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THE RE-UNION OF 73. 

THE SECOND RECEPTION OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PORTSMOUTH, RESIDENT 

ABROAD, 

vJTJXj"^ 4, 1873. 

ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE HIGH SCHOOL RE-UNION, 

JULY 5, 




GREAT PRAISE MEETING 

ON SUNDAY, JULY 6. 



PUBLISHED BY CHARLES W. GARDNER, 

PORTSMOUTH, N. H. 









THE CLARHMONT MANUFACTURING CO., 
PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 
CLAREMONT, N. H. 



PREFATORY. 



The first suggestion, relative to a Reuaioa of the Sous ia '73, did not 
find favor with the public. That is, the said public did not respond with 
a loud and long Amen, when the subject was talked of in private, and 
written of in the local papers of Portsmouth. Not that the old town 
lacked the elements of hospitality, or the requisite amount of interest in 
the Sons abroad; only the spirit needed to be aroused. The masses every- 
where are led by a few. We do not think or plan en masse, although we 
almost always execute by the aid of the whole people. So, while there 
was no positive opposition to the movement, there existed the usual 
amount of apathy which always attends the planning and starting of an 
enterprise of any great magnitude, and it was very natural that there 
should at first come forth the cry of "cost" and "labor" and "a more 
convenient season," etc. 

But the spirit of enterprise, mingled with love, is contagious ; and as 
the weeks of winter and spring went by, and the Fourth of July, 1873, 
and the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Portsmouth crept on apace 
the enthusiasm and zeal increased and one and another fell in, until scarce, 
any remained outside the charmed circle of workers in the labor of love. 
The entertainers and those who were to be entertained were alike interest- 
ed in a successful and glorious gathering and there was a beautiful moral 
in the fact that for a month or more preceding the ever-to-be-remembered 
E,e-union of '73, an overwhelming number of willing hands and feet 
never ceased to do the bidding of more willing hearts in aid of the 
good work of preparing for the proper reception of the children and 
grandchildren of old Strawberry Bank. 

The re-uniting of a family is pleasant and beautiful. But where are 
the adjectives that will aid us in describing the re-union of hundreds of 
families under one roof I' The Mother welcoming home her Daughters and 
Sons ! By the way, what a rare magnetism there is in that little word 
"home"! How strangely enchanting are the reminiscences that it con- 
jures I How multiplied the pleasures it suggests! The influences that 



surrounded our early home-lives made ua the kind of men and women 
that we are. The experiences of our youth contributed to our destiny as 
positively as the tiny streams flowing down the mountain's side help to 
make the deep-running river. 

When the girl or boy leaves the old homestead, new scenes are encountered 
and a new life is entered upon, so that the affections are gradually trans- 
planted to other fields of social life, and old attachments and charms give 
place to new ones. But the heart of the ever solicitous mother never 
changes. We find the maternal instincts as strong after the lapse of years 
of prodigal wandering as on the day in which we so fervently bade adieu 
to the home of our childhood. So, we believe, the illustration will hold 
good when applied to old Portsmouth, whose highest boast is, that she has 
reared and sent forth to every quarter of the globe noble women and men. 
In their wanderings, and amid their all-absorbing cares, they may have 
forgotten her, for a while, but she will them, never. We intend no re- 
flection upon the loyalty of the Daughters and Sons of Strawberry Bank, 
but desire to incorporate into this History a tribute that is justly due the 
sacred name of "Mothee." 

We propose, in the succeeding pages, to give a full and correct statement 
of events and matters of interest as they occurred on the occasion of one 
of the most successful celebrations that was ever held anywhere. We 
cannot but remember, however, that the record must suffer in comparison 
to that of '53, made and published by that indefatigable and able historical 
gleaner, Charles W. Brewster, Esq., now deceased ; and we beg the reader 
to pardon the omissions and inaccuracies that may be sifted from this 
pamphlet, keeping in mind the fact that an unskilled hand arranged it. 



HISTORY. 

"They love their land because it is their own, 

And scorn to give aught other reason why." — Hallech. 

It is believed that, in this country and in modern times, at least, the first 
ReunioQ at home, of Portsmouth's Sons and Daughters wherever resident, 
was a novel and unique celebration. The nearest approach to it, probably, 
were the gatherings, somewhat similar, but far less complete and extensive, 
on the occasions of celebrating the centennial or other anniversaries of 
some of the old settlements in this and other States. Newburyport, also, 
the year following our first gathering, (in lS5-i,) held a similar home re- 
union ; but has not attempted a repetition. And Gloucester has now 
taken the preliminary steps for the like, and perhaps other towns. 

During the greater part of the present century, and especially since 
the introduction of railroads into this region — whereby Portsmouth lost 
much of her previous relative high business standing compared to Boston, 
Portland and the neighboring seaports — a very large percentage of the 
young men of the town have unfortunately felt compelled or been im- 
pelled to seek business and homes elsewhere. This heavy drain upon the 
vital resources of the old town has of course been fatal to its growth and 
development; nor is it at all certain from a social or politico-economic 
point of view, that the ambitious and dissatisfied young men who preferred 
to roam, have in the aggregate at all bettered their condition or increased 
their opportunities for happiness, over what their equal endeavors might 
have won for the whole in the old homestead. 

But this question it is not our province to discuss here or now. The fact 
led to the Celebration of which we speak, and ours it is to make record of 
the same, as accurate and complete as we may. Although so many left 
their native hearths, most of them professed to retain strong love for the 
old home, and returned to visit it whenever opportunity offered. The 
pleasant summer meetings of old friends, Portsmouth people, both here 
and in other cities, at length appears to have suggested to several parties, 
resident in Boston and New York, at different times, some sort of a social 
home gathering. Thus, Mr. John H. Bowles, of New York City, 
proposed some such thing to Mr. C. W. Brewster of the Portsmouth 
Journal, as early as 1850 ; Messrs. William G. Wendell, A. A. Peterson 
and others, on July 4th, 1852, discussed in Mr. Peterson's store in 
New York, a plan for a party of Portsmouth New Yorkers to visit home 
by water. 

But to do exact justice to all parties is our purpose, and in looking up 
the matter to ascertain the real author of the Return in 18o3, we fail to 
discover any one person who has a right to the credit of the idea of such 
an occasion. Like all great inventions or movements of a similar char- 
acter, it seems to have had its conception in the minds of many at once ; 
i. e. — the feeling that it was time for such a gathering forced itself upon 
the minds of those whose intense love of their early home gave birth to 
the desire to have a general coming together in the old town of their 
childhood. Leaving the question then, m regard to the origin of the 
idea, the query of who made the first movement or who struck the first 
blow, naturally suggests itself. In the discharge of our duty as an im- 
partial historian, we have taken much pains, by patient inquiry and 
otherwise, to learn what the record fails to clearly impart to us. 

The first movement looking toward a gathering of the " Sons " in Ports- 
mouth was made by Messrs. Theodore S. Harris, liobert L. Harris and 
Albert Eemick as early as March, 1853, in the store in which the former 



was employed as clerk. This primary step consisted of meeting together 
at the place mentioned, from time to time, to devise a plan for bringing 
the matter before the public. Finding their consultations interrupted by 
frequent callers, they soon changed their headquarters to Col. Ezra Lin- 
coln's office in Court Street, where Mr. Robert L. Harris (a brother of Theo- 
dore) was learning civil engineering. Here they came together, day after 
day in their spare moments, to talk over their scheme. At the same time, 
B. P. JShillaber, Esq, — well known as a devoted son of Portsmouth — being 
connected with the Boston Posi and a newspaper man by profession, com- 
menced writing articles in the Fost, as well as in the Journal and Messen- 
ger of this city, for thep urpose of awakening the attention of the public 
m Portsmouth and Boston to the matter. The next move was to secure 
the names — to a paper properly drawn up by such individuals aa would 
give character and weight to the undertaking ; and, accordingly, early in 
May the Messrs. Harris and Remick drew up a document and procured 
quite a number of signatures of prominent men who were willing to do all 
m their power to aid the enterprise. We .give the paper referred to, with 
the names affixed. 

" The natives of Portsmouth and vicinity propose visiting that place on 
the coming anniversary of American' Independence. It is proposed to have 
a Marshal and Assistants, to employ a band of music and carry out such 
other arrangements as an Executive Committee to be chosen may decide 
upon. 

We the undersigned, heartily concur in this movement, and will do all 
in our power to further it to a successful and pleasant result. 

[Signed ] — Samuel H. Gookin, T. Starr King, M. P. Kennard, John E. 
Abbott, William E. Abbott. J. G. Bachelder, I, W. Frye, Alfred Mudge, 
James T. Fields, C. B. Goodrich, S. Robinson, W. N. Melcher, W. H. Hill, 
W. H. Kennard, George A. Fields, Garland Sewell, Theo. S. Harris, A. M. 
Beck, Samuel W. Waldron, Joseph Simes, R. W. Mason, T. M. Ball, 
Walter B. Hill, Lemuel E. Caswell, August E. Bachelder, Henry L. Bach- 
elder, Theodore Chase, Charles Mason, George B. Sanger, F. E. Parker, 
Geo. W. Bazin, Nath'l. Melcher, G. M. Mason, John H. Cheeveer, Cha's. 
Levi Woodbury, Robert L. Harris, Albert Remick. 

The Messrs. Harris and Remick also had circulars printed, setting forth 
their proposal in detail, and sent them to a large number of the " Sons" 
living in the vicinity of Boston, in order to secure their co-operation ; the 
funds for the printing of these, as well as for other preliminaries, being 
generously guaranteed by Samuel H. Gookin, Esq. 

The work of agitation thus proceeded until the 4th day of June, 1853, 
when an informal gathering was held at the Tremont House, Boston, at 
which the action of the Messrs. Harris and Remick was cordially endorsed, 
and the work of preparation begun in good earnest, a meeting being 
called at Cochituate Hall on the 10th of June, 1853, prior to which quite 
a sum of money was raised by the liberal contributions of those who were 
foremost in prosecuting the work thus commenced. At this 10th of June 
meeting an organization called " An Association of the Sons of Portsmouth 
resident in Boston and vicinity," was perfected, which has been main- 
tained ever since. This Association not only proposed a Return in '53, but 
also at every decade thereafter ; and had it not been for the war in '63. 
they claim that they would have put in an appearance at that time com- 
mensurate with the occasion of '73. It has been considered a happy 
coincidence that these " Returns" should have (so far as our researches 
extend) germinated on the spot to which in 1624, David Thompson, the gal- 
lant originator of the settlement of Portsmouth, and its first absenting 
son, turned his prow. 

From the foregoing, it would appear that the origin of the Return was 
in Boston, and the first workers were Messrs. Theodore S. Harris, Albert 
Remick, and Pvobert L. Harris, who, being then active and enthusiastic, 



wrought up the public interest to a proper pitch, after which the affair 
was a foregone triumph. 

We are aware that there is a friendly dispute in regard to who was the 
originator of the idea of a general " Return" home : and we regret that it 
must remain an unsettled question in this history, as it would afford us 
gratification to point out the individual — were he to be found — and 
glorify him by citing the public to the grand success achieved. But we 
must content ourselves by reiterating our former assertion that it was not 
the product of one mind alone and therefore to name any would be in- 
vidious. We subjoin Mr. Shillaber's statement of the matter as given 
through the columns of the Portsmouth Journal in September, 1872. 

THE " GOING HOME " IN 1853. 

Chelsea, Aug. 17, 72. 

Mr. Brewster: — At this time, when a reunion of the Portsmouth Boys 
abroad with those at home is being looked forward to in 1873, a review 
of the facts relating to the " return, " in 1853 may not be uninteresting to 
your readers, and may serve to awaken a little enthusiasm for the occa- 
sion contemplated. My own part, in originating and promoting that, 
I regard with more pride than any act of my life, as the result developed a 
quality so sacred and tender, that to be instrumental in causing such hap- 
piness carried with it a feeling of unbounded satisfaction, that is yet 
undiminished. But my part was small in the matter — simply setting 
the ball in motion. The credit of success in the affair is due, mainly, to 
others. Theodore S. Harris, Samuel H. Gookin, M. P. Kennard, F. E. 
Parker, James H. Weeks, James T. Fields, T. Starr King, and other 
active spirits, in Boston, received the idea and improved it. Mr. Harris 
was indefatigable in his exertions to awaken interest, using every means 
to that end, devoting money and time to the object; and his enthusiastic 
advocacy first gave vitality to the project. 

The City Government of Portsmouth, also, in so readily acting upon 
the suggestion, and meeting the scheme contemplated, with a generous 
hospitality that had not been anticipated, deserves a large share of credit 
for this success, stimulating the " Sons" abroad, everywhere, with a wish 
to participate. His Honor, the late lamented Horton D. Walker, Alfred 
W. Haven, Hon. Ichabod Goodwin, and many other prominent citizens, 
backed by the sentiment of the entire city, — by their earnest co-operation 
made the return of the " Boys '' an assured thing from the start, which 
resulted in the grandest demonstration of affectionate reunion ever known. 

The origin of the occasion was thus wise. In May, 1853, while con- 
nected with the Boston Post, I met the late Wm. P. Treadwell in Dock 
Square, who, in speaking about our old home, asked how I thought a 
proposition for the Sons of Portsmouth to visit the homestead, on the 
coming 4th, would be received. We came to the conclusion that the 
desirableness of the proposition would commend itself, and proceeding to 
the ofiice, I wrote the following, which appeared in the Post of May 16th : 

Most Agreeable Excursion. — We learn that the natives of Ports- 
mouth, N. H., residing in Boston, meditate a visit to their early home on 
the coming 4th of July, Natives of Portsmouth are very numerous in 
Bo.'(ton and we should think a large number might be induced to join the 
excursion. It is proposed, as we learn, to select from among their num- 
ber an orator, poet and chaplain for the occasion, and proceed to old 
Strawberry Bank, where, doubtless, they will be heartily welcomed by 
their old friends and associates. It will undoubtedly be a happy time 
for all parties. We publish the above merely as a rumor, as we believe 
no general action has yet been had about it. 



Treadwell said he had spoken to one or two others regarding it, who 
thought well of it, but there had been no definite plan proposed. This 
we proceeded to make, and the " orator, poet and chaplain" had their 
origin at that meeting. F. E. Parker was to he the orator, Fields the 
poet and King the chaplain, and how to carry it out was the question. 

Our plan also contemplated a dinner under a tent, or a mammotli 
chowder, to which we proposed inviting the City Government and prom- 
inent citizens, to participate with us. 

The preliminary paragraph awakened considerable attention, and the 
hint began to harden into purpose. At that time I corresponded with 
the Rockingham Messenger, in Portsmouth, and commented therein, by 
letter and editorially, upon my own paragraph, with as much force as I 
could command. The Journal and Chronicle took the matter up, and on 
May 24th another paragraph appeared in the Post, alluding to the co- 
operation of the Portsmouth press, and spoke of the matter as "ripening." 
The action of the Portsmouth City Government then followed, and the 
invitation was extended. 

You will pardon me for copying from the Post, of June 4th, an address 
" to the Portsmouth Boys : " 

Come rally, boys ! Awake, Awako! 

Hear old affection on you calling, 
Your childhood's home appeal dotli make, 

On willing ears may it be falling ! 
She calls you from your busy care. 

To meet her in her pleaaaut places, 
Her old regard again to share, 

And smiles from old familiar faces. 

Each rock and haunt, remembered well, 

Will send its hundreds forth to meet you ; 
Joy's loudest note will widely swell, 

And ardent hearts expand to greet you. 
And bell and gun and flame and tongue 

Will lilend their notes in peal sonorous, 
Familiar as of old they rung, 

And Welcome 1 Welcome ! be the chorus. 

Crowd not the generous impulse back 

That prompts the thought in which you gather; 
Twere well to leave life's dusty track, 

And turn in filial duty hither — 
To once again in union join, 

'Mid scenes that saw your life's unsealing. 
And at the well-remembered shrine 
Kindle anew the heart's true feeling. 

B. P. S. 

The first public meeting wa.s held, Jane 10th, at Cochituate Hall, Tre- 
mont Street, called together by the following notice : 

Natives of Portsmouth, former residents thereof, and all others 
interested in celebrating the approaching anniversary of the Declaration 
of Independence at the City of their birthplace, or which has been their 
residence, are requested to meet at Cochituate Hall, on Friday evening, 
10th instant, at 8 o'clock, to take some action on the subject. 

The meeting was large and spirited, and besides the known members of 
the Portsmouth family, some appeared, to pjarticipate in the meeting, 
who had left the place so long before that the fact of their originating 
in Portsmouth was hardly known beyond, and almost forgotten, by 
th emselves. F. E. Parker was chosen President ; Samuel H. Gookin 
and M. P. Kennard, Vice Presidents ; J. E. Abbott and Theodore S. 
Harris, Secretaries ; and Jas. H. Weeks, Treasurer. A resolution offered 
by James T. Fields, embodying the idea that the " Boys " go home, was 
enthusiastically adopted, eloquent speeches were made, committees were 
appointed, and active work commenced. 

An adjourned meeting was held at the same place June 28, to complete 



arrangements, and S. H. Gookin appointed Chief Marshal, who was to 
confer with Col. A. J. Beck, Chief Marshal of the Portsmouth organiza- 
tion, for joint action. 

I find the following in the Post as an addenda to a rallying paragraph, 
supposed to have been sent in by Mrs. Partington, who would insist upon 
it that she was a " Portsmouth Boy : " 

" Let all in unison their cbateaus swing: 
Now be forgotten eacli harmonious thing, 
And with glad voices make the welcome ring." 

An imitation is rarely successful, but there was so much heartiness 
about the first reunion, that overshadowed all formalities, as leads to the 
hope that, should the one purposed prove a fact, enough of the old leaven 
remains to vitalize and put it through triumphantly. 

Pardon my obtruding myself so into the public eye, like a cinder, but 
we grow egotistic as we grow older, — there seemed an occasion for doing 
good in reviving the old story, and I was not at all reluctant to appear, 
" a humble instrument " of the past, in aid of that which may prove, in 
some degree, a copy of what was a grand good time. Many who par- 
ticipated in the former enjoyment have gone under, (King's memory is a 
precious trust with every Portsmouth boy,) while those wlio remain have 
whitened in the airs of twenty years, or assumed rotund proportions that 
establish their claim to regard, as "solid men," but their hearts warm 
towards the green old town of their birth, and they will gladly go home 
again and renew the joy they experienced in '53. My friend Harris may 
not show the alacrity of limb wliica then led him to do so much, but his 
enthusiasm is undimmed, and our excellent Chief Marshal is ready, as 
then, in spirit, to lead the column, from the ranks of which no deserter 
will be known. I trust the young men will emulate the spirit of the old, 
and show the same love of home as impresses their elders. We shall 
see. 

Yours for the " good time" coming, 

B. P. Shillaber." 

The Second Reunion is now a thing of the past. It was indeed a great 
and glorious gathering. In order of time and numerically, it must of 
course bear a record of No. 2 as compared to the first ; and perhaps in 
novelty, and zest also ; but in all the other elements that go to make up 
success; — numbers, good feeling, cordiality, preparations, completeness 
— the Reunion of 1873 stands unexcelled. 

PRELIMINARY STEPS IN PORTSMOUTH. 

As early as May 2, 1872, Col. Wm. H. Sise petitioned the mayor and 
aldermen of this city to take the initiatory steps toward a celebration the 
year following, but nothing was done beyond accepting the communica- 
tion and placing it on file. Throughout the summer, however, the matter 
was agitated from time to time through the Chronicle and Jourrial, and in 
November, 1872, Col. Sise secured the names of a number of citizens in- 
terested in the proposed celebration, and succeeded in arranging for a 
meeting for the public discussion of the scheme. 

The first meeting in Portsmouth for the purpose of taking preliminary 
steps towards an organized movement for the return of the Sons in July, 
1873, was held at the City Rooms on Tuesday evening, Nov. 26, 1872, at 
which sixty-one names were presented to constitute a general committee, 
after which the list was increased to upwards of 100, the following being 
the complete roll. 



10 

Ichaboil Goodwin, Frank Jones, Daniel Marcy, John H. Bailey, Albert B. Hatch, Aaron 
II. Hill, M. Uuffoni, U. F. Wendell, ihos. II. Odiun, E. H. VViuchestfr, A. W. Odion, J. C. 
Butler, W. W. Cotton, A. iStavers, I. P. Miller. K. L). Coffin, P. U. Norton, W. N. Ilsley, 
1). J. Vaugliau, John S. Rand, N. Dana Whipple, J. A. Sanborn, C. W. Gardner, James U. 
Dow, G. M. Goodrich, W. U. Sise, W. K. Preston, F. W. Miller, A. W. Haven, Win. M. Thayer, 
G. W. Marston, Samuel Dodge, James VV. Kmery, James D. Butler, Chas. H. Rollins, Geo. L. 
Treadwell, Jos. II. Emery, 11. M. Clark, 11. W. Mason, E. G. Pierce, jr., Jos. U. Gardiner, 
C. A. Ilazlett, D. W. Barnabee, W. U. Uackett, Manning Emery, Thos. S. Nowell, C. 11. 
Mendum, II. II. ilam, jr., John Stokell, E. A. Tilton, Wm. A. Pierce, M. T. Betton, C. C. 
Jackson, J. E. Giddings, Geo. Annable, Richard Waldron, Isaiah Wilson, Albert Laighton, 
J. C. Ca'rr, W. U. Y. Uackett, C. C. Ackerman, Wm. R. Boardraan, Albert A. Eeruald, 
H. C. Walker, C.A. Shannon, M. Eldredge, C. 0. Walker, J. H. Kent, 0. G. Pickering, Jos. M. 
Edmonds, Jas. P. Bartlett, Thos. Tredick, jr., Thomas Neil,5eo. E. llanson. Dr. Jas. R. May, 
J. Albert Walker, Dr. A. P. Stevens, Wm. B. Lowd, Gershom Melcher, Dr. J. W. Parsons, 
Wm. C. Ham, L. E. Martin, Dr. B. Dearboin, John Pinder, II. B. Lord, II. C. Locke, Wm. A. 
Vaughan, Jas. L. Pierce, Jas. E. Dennett, Daniel E. Leavitt, E. P. Marden, Howard Messer, 
Wm. L. Dwight, John II. Locke, John Sise, John J. Pickering, 0. L. Loomis, L. VV. Brews- 
ter, Calvin Page, Sam'l U. Goodall, Dr. E. B. Goodall, Jos. C. Perkins, Chas. B.Parker, John 
E. Colcord, Jas. F. Jenness, William Simes. 

This committee was organized aud sub-divided as follows : 

Ckairman, Ichabod Goodwin. 

Vice-chairmen, William H. Sise, William R. Preston, Frank Jonea, William Siraei, 
Daniel Marcy, James P. Bartlett, Frank W. Miller, Charles H. Rollins, John H. Bailey, 
Alfred W. Haven. 

Recording Secretary, John E. Colcord. 

Vorrrspondiny Secretary, James F. Jenness. 

ON FINANCE. 

Ichabod Goodwin, Frank Jones, William Simes, Daniel Marcy, James W. Emery, Thomas 
H. Odion, John H. Bailey, Aaron H. Hill, E. II. Winchester, William R. Preston, Frank W . 
Miller, Wm. R. Boardman, Henry M. Clark, E. G. Pierce, jr., Charles G. Pickering. 

ON INVITATIONS. 

Wiliam II. Sise, Geo. L. Treadwell, T. E. 0. Marvin, Thomas S. Nowell, George W. Mars- 
ton, N. Dana Whipple, Manning Emery, Marcellus Bufford, G. Jl. Goodrich, J. Albert 
Sanborn. 

ON PROGRAMME. 

William H. Sise, Henry F. Wendell. Albert A. Fernald, Marcellus Eldredge, Daniel J. 
Vaughan, William W. Cotton, Chas. W. Gardner, George VV. Marston, Charles H. Rollins, 
Edward D. Coffin, James H. Dow, Edwin A. Tilton, Matthew T. Betton, Charles A. Ilazlett, 
W. A. Pierce, J. Albert Sanborn. 

ON LITERARY EXERCISES. 

Albert R. Hatch, James P. Bartlett, Albert Laighton, Alfred W. Haven, Wm. H. Hackett, 
William M. Thayer, Israel P. Miller. 

ON COLLATION. 

Joseph H. Gardiner, Jerome C. Butler, John Stokell, A. W. Odiorn, Charles C. Akerman, 
Uenry M. Clark, Alfred Stavers, John E. Giddings, Richard Waldron, Joseph H. Emery. 

ON DECORATIONS. 

Q. M. Goodrich, William R. Preston, Wingate N. Ilsley, C. C. Jackson, John S. Rand, 
Chas. H. Meiiilum, George Annable, Hartley W. Mason, Isaiah Wilson, Edwin A. Tiltou, 
Edward D. Coffin, Wm. M. Thayer, Samuel Dudge, Alfred Stavers, D. VV. Barnabee, Clarence 
0. Walker, William E. Hadley, Henry C. Walker, James U. Dow, A. W. Odiorn, Richard 
Waldron, Henry II. Ham, jr., Charles A. Shannon. 

ON ENTERTAINMENT OF PRESS. 
Prank W. Miller, J. Horace Kent, Charles W. Gardner. 

GENERAL COMMITTEE OF LADIES. 

Pretident, Mrs. Frank W. Miller. 

Vice Presidents, Mrs. Jos. P. Morse, Miss Mary II. Foster, Miss M. Ellen Brown, Miss 
Carrie C. Haley, Mrs. Alfred Stavers, Mrs. Henry C. Walker, Mrs. John Stokell, Mrs. A. P. 
Stevens, Miss Susie Christie, Miss Julia Pray. 



11 

Recording Secretary, Miss Annie E. Mrndum. 
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. E. P. Seavey. 

FINANCE. 

Miss Eliza Rice, Miss Sarah Boardman, Miss Fannie Vennard, Miss Martlia Peudexter, 
Mis. E. a. Tilton, Mrs. A. W. Odiorne, Mrs. John P. Hart, Mrs. 13. F. Webster, Mrs. Allied 
W. Haven, Mrs. John W. Parsons, Mrs. Aaron Young. 

INVITATIONS. 

f Miss Jennie Bufford, Mrs. John Wilson, Miss Abby Hazelton, Miss Fanny Vennard, Miss 
Carrie C. Haley, Mrs. Charles C. Akerman, Mrs. Henry C. Walker, Miss Abbie Payne, Miss 
Susie Christie, Miss Kate Laightou. 

PROGRAMME. 

Mrs. Thomas S. Nowell, Mrs. Annie Benedict, Mrs. T. K. Locke, 'Miss Minnie Stokell, 
Mrs. Wm. Day, Mrs. R. C. Bartlett, Mrs. Daniel Marcy, Mrs. Xhos. E. 0. Marvin, Mrs. Thos. 
H. Odiou, Miss Abbie Hazelton. 

LITERARY. 

Mrs. James P. Bartlett, Mrs. Jas. De Norniandie, Mrs. W. II. Alden, Mrs. Julia Van Ness 
Whipple, Mrs. Albert R. Hatch, Mrs. Frank W. Miller, Miss Sarah H. Foster, Mrs. J. F. 
Bingham, Mrs. Carlos Marty n, Miss Frances N. Shackford. 

COLLATIONS. 

Mrs. Aaron H. Hill, Mrs. Charles H. Mendum, Mrs. Wingate N. Ilsley, Mrs. Joseph A. 
Grace, Mrs. Joseph Sise, Mrs. H. M. Clark, Mrs. Annie Benedict, Mrs. Thus. K. Locke, Mrs. 
John Stokell, Mrs. James H. Head, Mrs. Plummer D. Norton, Mrs. Jos. P. Morse, Mrs. John 
P. Hart, Mrs. C. C. Akerman, Miss Jessie Williams, Miss Mary E. Haley, Miss Kittle Shores, 
Miss Lizzie Pray, Miss Annie L. Sise, Miss Susie Christie, Miss Mary Foster, Miss Carrie C. 
Haley, Miss Minnie Stokell, Miss Carrie Whitcomb. 

DECORATIONS. 

Mrs. Samuel S. Green, Mrs. Dr. N. B. Coleman, Mrs. William H. Sise, Miss Nellie 
Hazleton, Miss Emma Vennard, Miss Georgie Uiil, Mrs. Chas. M. Laighton, Mrs. A. W. 
Odiorne, Miss Emma F. Lowd, Miss Ella Harvey, Miss Abby Payne, Mrs. J. E. Colcord, 
Mrs. James F. Jenness, Miss Lavinia Laightou, Mrs. Aaron Young, Miss Fannie A. Bailey, 
Miss Emma Laightou, Mrs. Alfred Stavers, Mrs. J. 11. Hutchinson, Mrs. H. M. Clark, Mrs. 
Wingate N. Ilsley, Mrs. Annie Benedict, Mrs. Thomas K. Locke-, Mrs. John Stokell, Mrs. 
James H. Head, Mrs. Plummer D. Norton, Mrs. Joseph P. Morse, Mrs. John P. Hart, Mrs. 
C. C. Akerman, Miss Susan Christie, Miss Mary A. Foster, Miss Carrie C. Haley, Miss Min- 
nie Stokell, Miss Carrie Whitcomb, Miss Annie Pillow. 

From the time of the organization of the committees until the comple- 
tion of all the arrangements necessary to the perfecting of so gigantic a 
scheme as that of entertaining all our absent children, their several tasks 
were arduous and well nigh incessant. All worked well and all felt well 
repaid. The city Government appropriated on the 12th day of June, the 
liberal sum of $ lO.OuO, which proved amply sufficient to cover all 
expenditures. j 

THE DECORATIONS. 

July 4th found the city in gala dress of bright colored flags, evergreens 
and flowers, many of the decorations being very handsome, though no single 
street presented so beautiful an appearance as did Market street when 
arched over twenty years before. Across the streets, were scores of flags 
bearing words of welcome ; and there were few houses on the line of 
march but had some adornment, were it but a flag, a wreath or bouquet of 
flowers, while many residences were elaborately and beautifully dressed. 
The following list contains a brief description of the principal decorations 
which came under our notice. 

frenchman's LANE 

Was dressed out with several lines of flags stretched across from the 
trees on either side. 



12 

ISLINGTON STREET. 

Alexander Robinson displayed a large ensign, with motto, " Welcome." 

Jacob Haddock had the portico of his house dressed. 

Jarvis Brothers' hosiery factory was beautifully decorated, with bunting 
and evergreen ; a large shield bearing the national coat of arms was 
placed high up on the building, and about the middle were the inscriptions 
" Welcome Home" and " Welcome to Portsmouth." The sides of the 
building were also festooned. 

Thomas Ward well's house was festooned with small flags, and a large 
ensign was stretched across the street ; over the porch was a statue of the 
Goddess of Libert}^, with flags depending from her shoulders. 

Justin B. Hanscom and Enoch J. Conner had their large, double house 
trimmed with wreaths and small flags from the windows, the entrance 
festooned with a large ensign and another one suspended over the 
sidewalk. 

George W. Shackley displayed a large evergreen wreath, a cross, ensign 
festooned, and signal flags. 

Aaron Akerman's house had a large ensign festooned along its entire 
front, and wreaths were displayed. 

At the junction of Dover street wiih Islington was the triumphal arch. 
It was thirty-five feet from outside of perpendiculars which were eight 
feet high at the spring of the arch, the arch to the center being twenty-six 
feet high. The apex was surmounted with a cluster of American flags, 
and numerous bannerets were aflixed to the outer circle of the arch. The 
bases and faces were dressed with evergreens, with shields at the spring of 
the arch. At the apex were the legends, " 1853. Welcome. 1873." On 
the western face — " Future Immortelles — the memories of to-day." [The 
arch of 1853 stood ou the same spot as this one.] 

John Stavers' house was festooned with red, white and blue, and small 
flags and wreaths were shown in good numbers ; six young girls, on an 
elevated platform, waved flags as the procession passed, the whole being 
very beautiful. 

Luther E. Martin and George W. Marston had their residence hand- 
somely dressed with bunting ; over the door was a large evergreen 
wreath with a motto on either side, — "Our warmest greeting," "Our 
heartiest welcome." 

Henry M. Clark produced a good effect with large flags festooned, and 
smaller ones interspersed. 

John P. Hart's residence was decorated very beautifully, with evergreen 
vsrreaths, spruces, statuary and flowers, and motto, " Welcome home." 

J. Woodman Moses' house was festooned with red, white and blue : the 
porch was draped with ensigns, and upon the corners were two ancient 
fire buckets labelled " Mechanic Fire Society, 1811." 

An unfinished house on the corner of Cabot street was hung with 
streamers. 

Ex-Gov. Goodwin had three lines of flags extending from his residence 
to the splendid trees across the street, the eastern and western lines each 
displaying the word " Welcome ;" the porch was festooned with flags, and 
over it was the motto, " Faith, Hope and Charity ;" and the line of trees 
opposite was hung with flags almost the whole length of the field. 

Marcellus Eldredge made a handsome display of festoons of bunting, 
with flags and a gilded eagle over the porch. 

Mrs. Halliburton's residence was decorated with wreaths and flowers. 

John A. Lamprey made a good show with spruces and small flags. 

Mrs. N. G. Weeks had an ensign suspended over the sidewalk, and the 
porch dressed with bunting and evergreen. 

The Misses Barnes displayed flags, and mottoes, "Welcome to the Sons 
of Old Strawberry Bank ; welcome to its former residents ; welcome to 



13 

all." " Sons of Portsmouth, be ever prompt in virtue's cause." " Be 
strong for God. your country and yourselves." 

John T. French's house, corner Summer street, was beautifully decora- 
ted on both streets with glories of tlags, lines of streamers and small ban- 
nerets. On the Islington street side was the motto "Welcome home." 
[These decorations were planned by and put up under direction of 
D. Webster Barnabee, who would evidently make a first class professional 
decorator.] 

James M. Carr made a handsome show of miniature flags, evergreen 
wreaths and festoons of spruce. 

E. G. Pierce displayed a fine ensign ; porch festooned with evergreen, 
with portrait of Washington over the door. 

At the house of Mrs. Jas. Tucker two large flags were thrown across the 
street, (by Theodore S. Harris, of Boston,) one inscribed, "God bless every 
one of you," the other, " The flag flown by U. S. S. Minnesota on the two 
davs of the Monitor and Merrimac battles." 

Col. William H. Sise's house was beautifully dressed. From a large gilt 
eagle at the centre of the building, at the eaves, bright colored streamers 
radiated to the ground : a glory of flags was over the porch and the 
word " Welcome" above the flag-;. 

At the old Academy were displayed the most beautiful decorations con- 
ceivable, and which attracted more attention and admiration than any 
display of flags and flowers could be expected to, — several hundred girls 
and young women, in white dresses and bright colored sashes. These 
decorations are referred to elsewhere. 

CONGKESS STREET. 

George Taylor had a large flag suspended across the street. 

E. S. Ryder and the Rand brothers made a very pretty display of flags 
and foliage, with legends, "1623," " 1776," and "1853. Home again, 
1873." 

The Cutter mansion was dressed with flags, signals, etc. 

Hon. W. H. Y. Hackett's residence was handsomely dressed with flags, 
and bore the legend, " We miss one Star (r)" [Referring to the lamented 
T. Starr King.] 

The Franklin House and stores beneath it were trimmed with bunting, 
and the house bore the motto, " We greet the present and remember the 
absent." 

Wm. R. Preston's store in Congress Block had a fine display of bunting. 

The Mercantile Library building, in which was the press headquarters, 
was handsomely decorated with flags and streamers; and a large flag 
inscribed " Portsmouth taking an account of her stock, July 4, 1873," was 
stretched across the street. 

MARKET SQUARE, 

On Market square we noticed but one store decorated, — that of Capt. 
Jos. H. Thacher, which had lines of evergreen from the roof to the ground. 

The only other decoration on Market Square was a rude shed containing 
a pump, the building being dressed out with spruce, and bearing mottoes, 
" Better than gold is the water cold. Free." " Thanks be to God for 
water. Free."" "Cold water, the life blood of the earth. Free," "A 
beverage prepared by God. Free." In the shed were men to pump and 
deal out water to all comers. 

MARKET STREET. 

George Hill & Co., store finely trimmed with bunting. 
James H. Dow had streamers and banners in profusion. 



14 

L. Blumauer and Rider & Cunningham made a joint display on their 
large building. A fine grey eagle was a prominent feature in the decora- 
tions at this place. 

George B. French displayed a motto, "Home — the land of our birth, 
the holiest place on the earth." The building was also well decorated. 

Charles H. Mendum & Co., made a very extensive display. The 
mottoes were, "Portsmouth expects her Sons to do their duty !" "The 
girls are all right! God bless 'em." On the corners, in the second story, 
were medallions with mottoes, " Old Portsmouth welcomes her children." 
" The knights of the yard-stick welcome you." 

John Stokell at the Spring Hill Market, had the motto, " Old Spring 
Hill welcomes the boys." The decorations of the rest of the street were 
not notable, consisting mainly of spruce and evergreen. 

VAUGHAN STREET. 

Most of the houses on Vaughan Street displayed single flags, etc., and 
between Geo. W. Pendexter's house and Stoddard's stable was a large 
flag with the motto " We greet you with a cordial welcome." 

PLEASANT STREET. 

The Chronicle Office was trimmed with flags and bore the following 
mottoes: "Dear to our hearts are the scenes of our childhood." "A 
greeting to the present." " Remembrance for the absent." " 1623 — 1776. 
—Ever the same old Portsmouth. 1853—1873 !" 

The vestibule of the Post-Office was decorated with flags, and being 
kept open all day, furnished a cool resort for a great many persons. 

The large block occupied by J. Albert Walker, Mrs. Wm. Pettigrew 
and Mrs. Hampti Kenney, was decorated with evergreen wreaths, 
flags, etc. 

Miss Caroline Wendell's residence was ornamented with lines of flags 
and mottoes, "Home, ever dear as the place of our childhood." " 1815, 
1853, 1873; Milestones on our life journey." 

Samuel Adams displayed a flag with the motto "Welcome Sons and 
Daughters of Portsmouth," and decorations of evergreens. 

A. F. Nowell made a neat display of flags, with the mottoes — 
"Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts; the chain may 
lengthen but it never parts." " Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our 
tears, are all with thee, are all with thee." 

The large block occupied by Thomas H. Odion, Miss R. A. Currier and 
Mrs. Rundlett was finely trimmed with flags and streamers, a large star 
of evergreen, and festoons. 

Jos. R. Curtis had his store dressed with spruce, streamers and an 
evergreen star. 

Hon. Daniel Marcy made a fine display of ship's signals, ensigns, etc. 

The residents at the South End " chipped in" and erected arches at the 
junction of Pleasant street with Water, and on Mill Bridge. These were 
among the most tasteful private displays made. They were entirely com- 
posed of evergreens and bloom. That on the bridge was a double arch. 
The motto on Water street arch was " No place like home." Baskets of 
flowers and wreaths were pendent from both. The walks of the brid-e 
were lined with spruces and the general effect was to transform the whole 
vicinity into a beautiful bower. The work was all done by private hands, 
and showed commendable public spirit in the celebration. 

F. S. Roberts, H. F. Wendell. F. and G. Bailey and Jeremiah Goodrich, 
at the junction of South street with Mill Bridge, made very fine displays. 

Laske}' & Pearson's store was dressed with wreaths and flags. 



15 

WATER STREET. 

J. E. Ham's house was handsomely decorated with small bannerets and 
evergreen wreaths. 

E. R. Laighton displayed a large number of miniature ensigns. 

Jos. Muchmore's house was finely dressed with flags and evergreens, and 
displayed the word " Welcome " in mammoth letters, done in evergreen. 

John Dame displayed a large number of small flags and a large ensign 
stretched across the street. 

STATE STREET. 

The residents on this street generally displayed flags. 

Wingate N. Ilsley had as mottoes on the front of his residence, " Wel- 
come," "Home again," " Auld acquaintance." There were various de- 
vices of flags and wreaths tastefully arranged on the front, with the pic- 
ture of Washington as a centre piece. 

The block at the corner of State and Pleasant streets, occupied by the 
Journal and Times newspapers, and Thomas S. Nowell, was covered with 
bunting, shields, eagles and various devices of the decorative art. 

E. M. Brown's residence was nicely dressed, the motto " Welcome 
home," done in leaves, being over the door. 

Whitcomb's saloon displayed numerous small flags. 

John N. Handy had a fine display, flags being suspended from the 
windows and twined around the porch supports, with good effect. 

Dr. Parsons had evergreen and flags, well arranged, on his house. 

Thomas Tredick and Alfred Stavers had the front of their double house 
ornamented with devices in evergreen, and festoons of bright colored cloth 
from porch to porch. 

Thomas S. Nowell made a very handsome display of large and small 
flags, evergreen wreaths and festoons, with a shield and a gilt eagle over 
the porch. Motto, " Welcome home." 

The house of Leonard and Charles C. Akerman was handsomely deco- 
rated, a fine picture of Washington, framed in evergreen occupying a 
place over the door. 

The Pwockingham House's spacious front afforded an excellent opportu- 
nity for display. From the eagle on the flag-staff streamers radiated in all 
directions. The American and foreign colors were draped in tasteful 
forms over porches, windows, and wherever they could be used to good 
effect, the centre piece being formed of a large banner with the words, 
" Welcome Home ' painted upon it. The effect of the whole was very fine. 

The block occupied by J. P. Morse and B. F. Webster was handsomely 
dressed with flags, and festoons of evergreen and cloth. 

Daniel Leavitt's residence was choicely ornamented, with flags and ever- 
green. Over the door was a representation of the traditional Uncle Sam, 
striped trowsers, carpet-bag and all, with the legend, " The son born July 
4, 1776." Between two windows was a large shield of evergreen, above 
which was a fine picture of Washington, witla the legend " The father." 

The double house occupied by Capt. Spalding and Rev. Canon Walsh 
was very handsomely dressed with flags and evergreen, and a line of flags 
was thrown across the street from the residence of H. H. Ham. 

A. H. Hill's house looked nicely, with evergreen and flags festooned. 

Capt. J. M. Hill's residence was decorated, a very pleasing feature being 
a group of living statuary made up of four generations. The oldest per- 
son in the group was Mrs. Catharine Brown, aged 85 years; the youngest 
person was a baby ten months old, named Gracie Nowell, a great- gra.nd- 
daughter of Mrs. Brown's. 

Mrs. Joseph Sise made a fine display, streamers extending from the eaves 
of the house to the ground, and a large eagle at the top making a good 
show. Motto, "Union, Liberty; July 4, 1776, 1873." 



16 

John Sise's house was handsomely dressed with flags and streamers, and 
a large shield. 

The old Gov. Langdon engine house (now occupied by an Extinguisher 
company) was neatly and tastefully dressed with nags and evergreen. 

CABOT STREET. 

J. Brooks' house was covered with miniature ensigns. 

John P. Sweetser's house was very handsomely decorated with evergreen 
wreaths and festoons, flowers and tlags. 

B. Norton's store was trimtned with flags, wreaths and spruce trees, and 
his house with flags. 

Robert Sides' house had small flags and evergreen wreaths and festoons. 

Mr. Woods' house had flags and evergreens, with motto, "Welcome home." 

MIDDLE STREET. 

The suburban residence of Charles H. Mendum, though so far beyond 
the tent ground that but few persons could be expected to see it, was 
finely decorated and presented a most attractive appearance. There was 
an evergreen arch over each gate, ornamented with shields, pennants, 
wreaths and flowers; the house was decorated with festoons of red, white 
and blue cloth, festoons and wreaths of evergreen, and flags ; and small 
shields were placed over the windows. The etfect of the whole was very 
neat and pleasing, and reflected credit on the planners and executors. 

At the entrance to the tent grounds was a large arch of evergreen and 
flags, bearing the word " Welcome." 

'rhe tent looked beautiful, its 300 feet of length being bright with 
banners of every color. At the entrance to the tent was an arch of 
Roman design, surmounted with garlands and wreaths, the American 
shield forming the central figure, while on the front was the word " wel- 
come" twined in flowers. At the top of each column were large masses 
of flowers. The central arch was surmounted by the United States coat 
of arms. On either side were tall flagstaS"s from which were flying about 
a hundred feet of flags forming another arch. Two lines of flags ran the 
entire length of both tents. The interior was entirely lined with the flags 
of all nations, caught at the top and draped to the sides, completely hid- 
ing the canvass. Intertwined was bunting of all colors, the whole form- 
ing two beautiful canopies. Around the sides of the tent were mottoes 
and shields and heraldic designs. The main motto at the head of the tent 
was the words, in scroll letters, two and a half feet long, " Welcome sons ; 
welcome daughters." 

W. P. Burley had an arch on his gate, surmounted by two flags. 

Oxford & Johnson's store was pretty well covered with spruce, evergreen 
wreaths, and a multitude of small flags. 

The house occupied by Chas. Marden and Robert Drew was liberally 
dressed out in spruce, and had a big eagle, stufl'ed, over the door. 

Wm. 0. Sides' house, corner of Middle and Cabot streets was trimmed 
•with spruce on the Middle street front, and on the other with flags ; and 
a large flag bordered with oak leaves, and several small flags waved 
across Cabot street. 

Henry F. Gerrish's residence was decorated with flags and evergreen. 

Hon. John 11. Bailey's residence was ornamented with a large eagle, 
flags, and evergreen wreaths and festoons. Mrs. Peter Jenness' man- 
sion was decorated with flags and wreaths. Jos. H. Foster's residence 
bore numerous large flags and a few small ones ; motto, "Welcome." These 
four buildings, standing all on the same side of the street and on ad- 
joining lots, presented a very handsome appearance. 

John J. Pickering had American and foreign flags on either side of the 
door porch, and at the top of the porch the national colors arranged in 



17 

canopy form. The motto, "Welcome home," appeared over a kaleido- 
scopic medallion at the front of the porch. A line of flags was also sus- 
pended across the street at the front of this residence. 

Capt. Wm L. Dwight madeagood show of flags, with a motto, "Ports- 
mouth, the home of our birth." 

Thomas Neal had out a couple of flags, and the porch of his house was 
very beautifully dressed in evergreen, bright bunting and flowers ; but 
the house is so completely embowered that probably not one passer-by in 
ten saw it. 

Wm. R. Preston's fine grounds "looked like the Arabian nights," with 
glories of flags, draped flags and flags in festoons, vases and bouquets of 
flowers and unique devices in evergreen, foliage and blossom. Over the 
entrance gate a huge eagle held in its beak the mottoes, "We'll not for- 
get the dear old home of boyhood's happy days." "1st Reunion, July 4, 
1853. 2d Reunion July 4, 1873." At the sides of the entrance, "Such is the 
Patriot's boast, Where'erehe roams, His first best country ever is his home." 
"To hail from Portsmouth is an honor and a password the world over." 

J. F. Shores', corner of Richards avenue, displayed the following mot- 
to; "Boys, we are glad to see you. Age sits with grace upon your vis- 
age." the house was also prettily trimmed with festoons of tri-color, and 
flags. 

Sliss Larkin's house was profusely adorned with bright-colored flags, 
the porch draped and the windows festooned ; and a line of flags was 
stretched across the street. 

Charles Robinson made a fine display of bunting and banners, the 
porch of his residence being draped and ornamented with a shield. Over 
the porch door was a full-rigged miniature ship, under which was the 
legend " An absent son is thiuKing of you," — an allusion to a Son who 
is away at sea. 

The Parrott mansion had its porches draped, and lines of red, white 
and blue bunting stretched from the eaves to the fence in front, a very 
simple but very neat and pleasing decoration. 

E. F. Sise's was finely decorated, with flags flying from the windows, 
and large flags stretched from the upper story windows to the fence. 
There was a large shield over the door, beneath which was a floral 
wreath enclosing a crystal star. Motto, " Home, our birthright and our 
promise." 

Dr. Coleman's house was neatly dressed with draped flags. 

HAYMARKET SQUARE. 

The decorating here was done at the expense and considerably by the 
labor of the New York delegation, who re-christened the square Man- 
hattan Park. Three arches were erected, besides a music stand for the 
use of Downing's Band, which was handsomely decorated, as was, indeed, 
the entire square, a tall flag-staff being placed in the centre of the space. 

The arch across Court street was 34 feet between perpendiculars and 
25 feet high ; that across Middle street, between the residences of Charles 
Robinson and Commodore Parrot, 38 feet wide and 28 feet high ; and the 
one between the Middle street Church and B. F. Webster's house, 33 feet 
high with 50 feet span. 

The decorations of the arches, excepting the perpendiculars, which 
were of spruce trees, were entirely composed of flags, colors of difi"ei-ent 
nations being intertwined and streamers of different hues radiating in all 
directions. At the sides of the triangular piece of ground were the follow- 
ing mottoes: " 250th birthday. A garland on the brow of age." " New 
York to Portsmouth. For ye are our glory and joy." " Her children 
rise up and call her blessed." " Sprigs of like leaves erect their filial 
heads." " Thoughts of past years doth breed in us perpetual benediction." 



18 

This locality was one of the chief centres of attraction, and did credit to 
the taste and liberality of the New York visitors as well as to their 
energy, for nearly all the decorating was done in short order, not many 
hours before the 4th. 

COURT STREET. 

The house occupied by Gideon H. Rundlett was ornamented with 
numerous wreaths and festoons of evergreen, and bore this legend : " The 
old schoolhouse where the faithful Taft held sway. The Sons returning 
revere his memory to-day." 

The engine-house building was handsomely dressed. A large arch, of 
spruce, stood near the sidewalk, and was ornamented with flags and a 
shield, and a big eagle on top. The front of the building was draped 
with flags ; No. One's door was ornamented with flags and wreaths, as was 
also No. Three's ; and over the latter was a row of small flags, and an 
arch bearing the word " Welcome," with a most solemn looking stufi"ed 
owl on the top. 

Capt. Chas. H. Rollins' house had wreaths of evergreen, and flags fes- 
tooned, with motto, " Welcome home." 

Capt. John E. Salter's residence presented a very handsome appearance, 
with wreaths and festoons of evergreens, and a large arch over the gate, 
with motto, " Welcome home. The latch-string hangs out." 

In the foregoing list of decorations, which we have endeavored to 
make as full and correct as possible, we have of course omitted to make 
mention of houses where single flags, or other decorations of no especial 
note were displayed; and it is very probable we maj'- have omitted some 
which were deserving of special mention. 

PRELIMINARIES IN BOSTON. 

We are indebted to the Rev. Wm. G. Nowell, of Maiden, for the 
following : 

During the twenty years succeeding 1853, the Sons of Portsmouth resi- 
dent in "Boston and Vicinity" held no general assembly ; but several so- 
cial reunions of portions of their number took place, and the spirit which 
prompted their first return to the old home was not lost. 

Upon coming back from that enjoyable occasion, the executive com- 
mittee of the Boston Sons appointed a sub-committee charged with the 
duty of keeping alive the organization formed to carry out the celebra- 
tion of that date, July 4, 1853, and of remarshalling the Sons wherever 
a like occasion should require their array. 

At the expiration of ten years, namely, in 1863, the question was raised 
of calling together the Sons for a second return home on the national holi- 
day of that year ; but, owing to the depressing efi'ects of the war, nothing 
was done towards awakening the organization into activity, and it was 
allowed to remain dormant until the early spring of 1873, when the sub- 
committee having received from Portmouth an invitation to the Sons 
abroad to make a second return home, issued a circular signed by Thodore 
S. Harris, chairman, and addressed to the executive committee, containing 
an invitation to them to meet at the Parker House, Boston, on the even- 
ing of the 20th of March. 

This circular was sent to those members of the executive committee of 
1853, that were living and within call, and to nearly one hundred per- 
sons not members of that committee. 

These persons were selected as miscellaneously as possible, and the re- 
quest to be ])resent at this meeting was extended to them, because it was 
deemed desirable to get together a truly representative body of the Sons 
of Portsmouth then resident in Boston and Vicinity, and especially to in- 
clude in the number men who had come to the activity of the earlier part 



19 

of mid-life during the twenty years which had elapsed since the former 
Return, or who, by change of residence, had placed themselves within the 
limits of the Boston organization since 1853. 

In response to this invitation nearly seventy gentlemen assembled at 
the place and time appointed. Mr. Francis E. Parker, the President of 
the organization in 1853, was called upon to preside at this meeting ; and 
a committee of eleven was selected by the chair at the request of the per- 
sons present. 

This committee as finally constituted consisted of Messrs. M. P. Ken- 
nard, John D. Parker, Frank Goodwin, Isaac W. Frye, Manning Emery, 
Rev. E. A. Rand, Geo. S. Walker, Chas. L. Woodbury, Geo. D. Wise, 
Chas. L. Damrell, Thos. B. Wiggin. 

They were charged with the double duty of nominating ofiicers of the 
organization, and of calling a mass meeting of the Sons living in and 
about Boston to pa*s upon the nominations to be offered by this committee 
and to make a selection of officers. 

A very strong determination was expressed by all the gentlemen who 
were chosen to the prominent offices of the organization in 1853, not to 
hold office longer. This expression upon their part being earnest and 
positive was regarded by the- committee of eleven, as was also the desire 
manifested by the leaders of the movement in 1853 that the younger men 
among the Sons should now come to the front, perform a part of the la- 
bor and receive their share of the honors incident to the new occasion. 
That committee nominated a large number of gentlemen for positions upon 
the different permanent committees of the organization, these positions 
numbering in all between sixty and seventy. It was arranged by the 
committee that the majority of the permanent Executive Committee 
should be composed of the chairmen of the seven other committees. They 
also nominated a President of the Association, two Secretaries, and a list 
of Vice-Presidents whose positions were to be strictly honorary. The 
President was maile, ex-officio, chairman of the executive committee. 

These nominations being completed, the committee of eleven called a 
Mass Meeting of the Sons at Wesley an Hall, Boston, on Thursday even- 
ing April 12, 1873. 

After spending considerable time in social converse the meeting waa 
called to order by Mr. Geo. D. Wise, and Hon. Geo. P. Sanger was unan- 
imously elected chairman. 

Judge Sanger made some gjipropriate remarks upon taking the chair, 
and Mr. Chas. L. Damrell was elected secretary. 

Mr. Parry Kennard, Esq., Chairman of the committee appointed at the 
Parker House meeting then submitted a list of nominations. The report 
was accepted and the gentlemen who had been nomipated were unani- 
mously elected, each class of officers being voted upon separately. 

The following is a complete list of the officers of the association as 
finally arranged. 
Preaident, Frank Goociwin, Esq. 

Vice Presidents. Hon. Krancis E. Parker, Samuel H. Qookin, Rev. A. P. Peabody, D. D. 
James T. FieMs, Theodore S. Harris, M. P. Kennard, Hon. Robert M. Mason, Hon. Geo. P. 
Sanger, Hon. Cijarles L. Woodbury, Com. E. G. Parrott, U. S. N., Rev. Edward A. Rand, 
Avery Plumer, Robert L. Harris, Albert Reniick, Albert F. Sise, Hon. Clias. B. Goodrich, 
James II. Weeks, B. P. Shillaber, David W. Cheever, M. D , Isaac Watts Frye, Rev. Wm. 
Lamson, D. D., Rev. S. H. Winkley, Rev. A. J. Patterson, George A. Fields, Jolin D. Parker, 
Rev. Thomas R. Lambert, D. D., Rev Joshua R. Peirce, Rev. George M. Adams, John Q. 
Webster. W. H. Kennard, George W. Bazin, Gideon Beck. William H. Hill, Geo. F. Emery, 
George K. Hooper, William N. Melcher, Mark R. Wendell. William H. Goodwin, Henry K. 
Real, Thomas B. Aldrich, Thornton K. Lothrop, Wm. T. Eustis, Geo. D. Wise, Thomas J. 
W' hidden, C. C. Rymes. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Frank Goodwin, Cliarles L. Damrell, George D. Wise, Tlios. J. Whidden, Ezra A. Stevens, 
William Simes, Jr.. Woodward Emery, George S. Walker, William G. Nowell, Henry 0. 
Barnabee, Chas. 0. Melcher, A. H. Cltapman. 

Secretaries, Charles L. Damrell, Charles C. Melcher. 



20 

COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. 

Woodward Emory, N. Parker Laightoii, Geo. K. Hooper, A. H. Chapman. 

COMMITTEE ON BADGES, BANNERS AND MOTTOES. 
Chas. L. Damrell, Henry C. Baruabee, A. H. Chapman, Rev. E. A. Rand, Win. H. Bush, 
Alex. L. Hayes, Wm. H. Preston. 

COMMITTEE ON SUBSCRIPTION AND FINANCE. 

Williftm Simea, Jr., Chas. H. Btlmunds, Thomas W. Ponliallow, Wm. A. Hayes, Manning 
Bmery, Chas. C. Melcher, Jas. A. Nowell, Jas. R. Stanwood, Clias. C. Harvey, H. F. Adwers. 

COMMITTEE ON PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING. 
Wm. G. Nowell, A. H. Chapman, John H. Miller, Chas. G. Brewster, Thomas B. Wiggin 
James W. Ricker. 

COMMITTEE ON MUSIC. 

Henry 0. Barnahee, C. C. Rhymes, T. W. Penhallow, N. Parker Laighton, F. N. Lambert, 
Chas. C. Melcher, John Sanger, John G. Thompson, Jr. 

COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE WITH TOWNS. 

Brra A. Stevens, Woodard Emery, John P. Lyman, Jr., Chas. F. Sise, Alex. L. Hayes, 
John H. Miller. 

COMMITTEE ON ESCORT. 

Geo. S. Walker, Thoa. J. Whidden, Chas. H. Edmunds, N. Parker Laighton, J. Edward 
Knowlton, Fred N. Lambert,C. C. Rhymes, J. P. Treadwell, E. A. Stevens, Jr., C.E.Jackson. 

Chief Marshal, Hon. Ezra A. Stevens. 

Aidt, Col. J. H. Jackson, William Simes, Jr. 

First Assistant Marshal, Woodward Emery. 

Aids, Clias. B. Gookin, Wm. A. Hayes. 

Marshals, Henry C. Barnabee, N. Parker Laighton, John P. Lyman, Jr., Jas. A. Nowell, 
Jas. R. Stanwood, A. H. Chapman, Chas. H. Edmonds, N. F. Berry, South Bnstnn; Horace B. 
Butler, East Boston; Jdhn N. Dennett, Charlestown ; John P. Soinerby, Salem; C. C. Mel- 
cher, J. W. Sanger, Manning Emery, Thos. W. Penhallow, Winslow L. Tucker, E. Allen 
Stevens, Jr., J. Edward Knowlton, Frederick N. Lambert, Horace Adwers, Wm. H. Preston. 

The choice of a chief marshal was assigned to the Executive Committee. 

In response to repeated calls, Frank Goodwin Esq, the president of 
the association, made a brief speech, in which he thanked his fellow- 
townsmen for the honor they had conferred upon him, and promised to 
use his utmost efforts to make their coming visit to Portsmouth a success 
in every respect. It was not common, he said, to see so many men, 
many of them unacquainted with each other, assembled togetlier with 
Buch friendly and cordial unanimity, but tlie sight was a beautiful one 
when it was taken into account that they were all bound together by the 
strong tie of a common home. The coming visit to the home of their youth 
had in it a triple significance — they were going home to celebrate the 
Fourth of July, they were also to celebrate the 250th anniversary of their 
native city, and, finally, it was to be a grand welcome to their beloved 
home. Mr. Goodwin then spoke of the glory of the sons of Portsmouth 
in former days, and notably of their achievements in the revolution of 
the colonies. It was not generally known, he said, but it was true, that 
the first real opposition to the British troops was offered by Portsmouth 
men, who, under the leadership of Langdon, Pickering and Sullivan, in 
1774, attacked Fort William and Mary, and, after resistance on the part 
of the garrison, captured it, and the ammunition taken from that fort 
was afterward used at the battle of Bunker Hill; and when we consider 
that the patriot troops were compelled to retire from that contest through 
a lack of ammunition, who can say but that this very powder captured 
by these Portsmouth men rendered the battle of Bunker Hill possible. 

We regret that we have not a full report of Mr. Goodvvin's remarks. 
They were spirited and eloquent, and were warmly applauded. Some 
humerous allusions to the selection of a chief marshal caused great mer- 
riment. Brief and telling speeches were made by Messrs. James T. 
Fields, Chas. L. Woodbury, Samuel H. Gookin, W. G. Nowell, M. P. Ken- 



21 

nard, John G. Webster, Rev. E. A Eand, Master C. Howard Walker and 
others. The remarks of these gentlemen abounded in allusions to the 
incidents of their youth in the good old town of Portsmouth and liter- 
ally kept the audience in a roar of laughter. 

Pleasant speeches were also made by Samuel J. Nowell, Esq., and Col. 
E. E. Goodrich, who were present from New York, and gave encouraging 
accounts of what the Sons were doing in that city. 

The meeting was held to a late hour, and much enthusiasm was shown 
throughout. 

Under the auspices of the Executive Committee of the Association of 
the Sons resident in Boston and Vicinity, meetings of Portsmouth people 
in South Boston, East Boston, Cliarlestown, Chelsea, Maiden, Cambridge 
and Salem were held from time to time, and branch organizations were 
established in those places auxilliary to the general organization. We 
give tlie following report of the preliminary doings in South Boston, as 
a sample illustration of the enthusiasm of these suburban towns. 

Tuesday evening, May 27, a meeting was held in the Vestry of the E. 
St. Cong. Church. About fifty persons were present. Rev. E. A. Rand 
was chosen chairman, Mr. N. F. Berry secretary. It was a wide-awake 
gathering. A hearty home feeling was manifested. The meeting was 
addressed by Frank Goodwin, Esq., Mr. Wm. Simes and Mr. Woodward 
Emery from the city. Hon. Hiram Bowles, Mr. N. F. Berry, Rev. 
Edw'd A. Rand, Messrs. Geo. Tuckerman, Cha's Hersey, Wm. Rand, Ed- 
win Spinney and Horace Stickney spoke for South Boston. 

The following persons were appointed to look after the Sons and 
Daughters in the neighborhood and secure all for the celebration ; Messrs. 
N. F. Berry, Willis Mendum, Horace Stickney, Albert Sheafe, John N. 
Frost, Wm. Rand, Edw'd A. Rand and Edwin Spinney ; and Mrs. F. 
Orcutt, Miss S. Garrett, Mrs. S. Gray, Mrs. T. L. Frost and Mrs. Brannigan. 

This committee subsequently organized with Mr. Berry as its chairman 
and Mr. Sheafe secretary. It held several meetings, raised funds for tlie 
treasury of the Boston organization, invited home all it could reach, and 
one of its last acts was to order two horse-cars for the morning of the 4th 
to carry to the Eastern Depot all travelers Portsmouth bound. 

These meetings in the towns in the neighboi'hood of Boston were ad- 
dressed b}'' members of the central Executive Committee and by gentle- 
men residing in these respective places, the best of feeling prevailing. 

The last grand rally was held m Wesleyan Hall on Friday Evening, 
June 28, a report of which we copy from the Portsmouth Chronicle of 
July 1st. 

THE BOSTONIANS WIDE AWAKE. 

It was our good fortune to be present at a meeting of the Sons and 
Daughters of Portsmouth resident in and about Boston, on Friday even- 
ing last. Frank Goodwin Esq., President of the Association, opened the 
speaking with an eloquent address, detailingthe workings of the organ- 
ization, its intentions and expectations. Following him, Prof. A. P. 
Peabody, of Harvard College, feelingly referred to old associations with 
Portsmouth people, whom he met in every country he visited and all of 
whom spoke lovingly of old Strawberry Bank. He was proud to meet 
them anywhere and to take them by the hand. The coming reunion 
would bring back many pleasant memories which would not be forgotten. 
These memories would be cherished many years hence when these who 
took part in the reunion of 1853 have passed away. President Goodwin 
next called up Hon. Ezra A. Stevens, who responded in a most felicitous 
manner, as follows : — 

" Considerable curiosity has been felt to know who would have temerity 
and self-assurance enough to accept the Chief Marshalship of our proces- 
sion, after what was said in this hall a few weeks since. Had I been present 



22 

at that meeting, it is very doubtful, indeed whether I should have occupied 
my present position ; for the description of the proper man for a Chief 
Marshal, as given by our worthy President on that occasion, was sufficient 
to deter a much braver man than myself from accepting it. Why, sir, if 
your speech has been correctly reported to me, you deemed it essential 
that the Marshal should be tall and noble looking, as Sanger ; sharp 
eyed as Storer ; enthusiastic as Gookin ; brilliant as Kennard ; and en- 
ergetic as Harris. He must possess the legal lore of Woodbury ; the elo- 
quence of Parker ; the silvery speech and graceful diction of Fields ; the 
poetic humor of Shillaber ; the inimitable drollery of Barnabee ; and the 
military genius and prestige of Jackson — in short he mast possess all the 
graces of all the gifted sons of Portsmouth ; must be a poet and a scholar, 
a hero and a saint! Now, ladies and gentlemen, I think you will all 
agree with me, that if any such man as that were living, he must, of 
necessity, have been born in Portsmouth ; for only old Strawberry Bank, 
herself, could ever have given birth to such a prodigy ! But there is no 
such person. The gods do not bestow all their graces upon any one man. 
And your executive committee, being satisfied of the fact, have rushed to 
the opposite extreme and seized upon one who is destitute of all. But, 
fellow townsmen, while your Marshal lays no claim whatever to any of 
the gifts or graces referred to, he is conscious of possessing at least two 
qualifications for the offices — a heart full of love to old Portsmouth, and 
to all her sons and daughters ; and a determination to do all in his power 
to make our procession a success. And in his efforts to this end he asks 
your hearty co-operation. 

Mr. Chairman, you, at least can bear me witness that it was with ex- 
treme reluctance I consented to accept this position and it was onh' when 
assured in the most positive manner by the executive committee and some 
of our older men that I could be of real service to our organization that 
I did so. I was by no means insensible of the honor conferred upon me, 
but I preferred for various reasons to remain in the ranks. 

When this subject was first agitated, I hoped that our former chief-mar- 
shal would swing his baton again this time, for certainly no man could 
do it better ; but I was told that the former officers had declined to take 
any prominent positions now ; they consented, however, to stand as god- 
fathers to the movement, and to give us their countenance, advice and 
money; and nobly have they redeemed their promise. To one of them, 
Mr. Theodore S. Harris, we are under special obligation. He has not 
only given us the benefit of his valuable experience, but has worked with 
us night and day, sacrificing time, money and health to carry forward the 
present movement. I feel that every son of Portsmouth owes him a debt 
of gratitude for his unselfish labors. 

This large audience gives token that the wish to re-visit the old home- 
stead is very strong in the hearts of the absent sons and daughters of 
Portsmouth. Dear old Portsmouth ! my birthplace and my home for nearly 
forty years ! Every foot of her soil is as dear to my heart, as it is fresh 
in my memory, and her children too, playmates of my youth — compan- 
ions of my maturer years ; I shall never forget them wliile life lasts. 

There may be living a man with heart so cold, and mind so mean, as 
to have no desire to return to the liome of his kindred, to the place that 
gave him birth, and to which he is indebted for all that he is and all that 
he has. H so, I envy not that man his feelings, be he rich as Crcesus, or 
poor as a church mouse. 

I have not been so unfortunate as to meet such an one : but on the 
other hand, I have seen scores, and hundreds, whose hearts are all alive 
with enthusiasm — men of leisure, and men of toil, — men who wield the 
pen, and men who swing the adze and shove the foreplane — veterans of 
three score years and ten, and lads not out of their teens. All, all seem 
ready and anxious to return once more to the scenes of their youth. 



23 

Now, sir, we utilize all this enthusiasm, to have it developed in the 
form of a splendid procession. Old Portsmouth has honored herself, and 
her sons by her munificent invitation. Let us honor ourselves and old 
Portsmouth by marching in solid columns through the streets, and mak- 
ing them ring with our glad hurrahs, on the nation's birthday— testify- 
ing at once our love of home and love of country ; for love of home is 
patriotism of the purest, truest, type. We are none the less good citizens 
of this commonwealth because of our attachment to the old Granite State 
none the less true Bostonians because we still cling to " old Strawberry 
Bank." In fact, we are better citizens of the one, because of our affection 
for the other. And we have good reason t) be proud of our old home. 
The weight of 250 years rests upon the paternal mansion ; it is a trifle 
antiquated to be sure ; but there is a royal family in it still. 

What other town in this broad land or in any other, has ever twice 
called home her absent sons, and spread for them a festive board ? And 
we are going home, too, this time, God willing, Sons and Daughters, 
Grandsons and Grandfathers — a family party — to enjoy a general thanks- 
giving on the Fourth of July. We mean to throw care to the winds, 
shake the dust from our brains, and the cobwebs from our hearts, and 
grow young again. We mean to have a grand good time, generally. 

The authorities at home have appropriated money with unparalleil gen- 
erosity, and are making very extensive preparations for our reception. 
It would be decidedly ungrateful, to say the least, for us to slight any 
portion of their entertainment — especially the great feature of the day — 
the procession. Not to walk in it would be like refusing to recognize 
one's own mother in the street. By taking our places in the ranks, we 
shall show our respect to the whole city, and our appreciation of their gen- 
erous welcome which we shall read in every waving flag, shall breathe in 
the perfume of every flower, and hear in every strain of music or chime 
of bells. 

We want to see in the procession on the Fourth, every son of Ports- 
mouth whatever his name or age, rank, or condition. One man will be 
just as welcome as another. We are all Portsmouth boys now — the same 
boys that skated, and swam, and fished, and played hoop together, twenty, 
thirty, forty, fifty years ago ; and we want to walk side by side, once 
more, as we did in days gone by. 

Grandsons too, old and young, born in Boston or elsewhere will be wel- 
come also. We will adopt tliem. Sir, into our Portsmouth Israel, as Eph- 
raim and Manasseh were adopted by the patriarch of old ; they shall be 
Sons like ourselves, and reckoned with the tribes. 

All such will be welcomed most heartily. Come in then, former resi- 
dents of Portsmouth, we want you to stand shoulder to shoulder with us. 

And there are scores of men, not born in the old homestead, whose res- 
idence there for years has made them part and parcel of the family, and 
whose attachment to the place is as strong as that of the native born Sons. 
Their influence was felt for good in the schools and churches, in the politics 
and business of the town ; their departure therefrom was sincerely mourned 
and their names are household words in many a family, still." 

One of the toasts given at our former re-union was the following — by 
Israel P. Kimball, Esq. 

" The Daughters of Portsmouth" 

Though native Sons forsake their homes 

And dwell the country o'er, 
Her Daughters, fairest of the fair. 

Adopt as many more. 

And we don't forget the boys who married our girls. As the daughters 
cannot walk in our procession themselves, they must be represented there 
by their husbands. Come in then sons-in-law, we say; thrice welcome to 



24 

you, also. Our hearts are large enough to take in everj' man who is in 
any way connected with old Strawberry-Bank, and we want to see them 
all in line on the Fourth, a column a thousand strong ; a procession that 
for size and character will exceed any ever seen in old Portsmouth ; a pro- 
cession that will reflect credit upon ourselves, and upon which our friends 
at home can look with pride and satisfaction." 

S. H. Gookin, Esq., the chief Marshal of Boston delegation in 1853, 
followed in a happy speech, dwelling upon the remembrance of that re- 
union, and the old scenes of boyhood's pranks at Puddle Dock, Point of 
Graves, South Mill Bridge and Spring Market. 

Albert F. Sise, Esq., paid a touching tribute to several Portsmouth Sons 
who died for their country in the rebellion — and enlivened the meeting by 
reference to bon-iires on the night before the 4th and the smashing of 
pumpkin lanterns on Pope night. 

Mayor Marvin was enthusiastically received and with a few well chosen 
words invited all present to come home next Friday. Mr. William Simes, 
jr., Rev. E. A. Rand, Rev. Wm. G. Nowell, and Mr. Woodward Emery 
spoke briefly, showing that the young men who have left Portsmouth are 
not a whit behind their elder brethren in eloquence. 

After the conclusion of the regular business of the meeting, remarks were 
made by Messrs. Samuel A. Badger, Geo. K. Hooper, Rev. George M. 
Adams and others of Boston, and by Capt. J. Albert Sanborn and Geo. 
W. Marston of Portsmouth. Our citizens have but little idea of the fervent 
feeling of tenderness which bind the absent Sons to old Strawberry Bank 
and which finds expression when they meet friends from home to whom 
they can express their gratification and delight at the preparations making 
to receive them. 

PRELIMINARIES IN NEW YORK. 

The first steps in response to the circular issued by the Home Invitation 
Committee on the 23rd of Dec, 1872, were taken by the Sons in New 
York ; and we print herewith their Circular issued but 12 days subsequent, 
and the Chronicle report of the meeting called by it. 
Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of the City of Portsmouth, 

N. H., July 4th, 1873. 

Extract from Circular issued by Committee on Invitations. 

" The Citizens of Portsmouth, N. H., will commemorate the 250th 
Anniversary of the settlement of the City, and the 20th Anniversary of 
the visit of the Sons, by a Reunion of the Sons and Daughters resident 
abroad, at the old homestead, on the 4th of July, 1873. A cordial in- 
vitation is extended to all natives and former residents to participate in 
the proposed celebration. ***** The 

Committee recommend that Associations of Sons of Portsmouth be formed 
in every city and neighborhood throughout the Country." 

Wm. H. Sise, George L. Treadwell, T. E. 0. Marvin, Thomas S. Nowell, 
George W. Marston, N. Dana Wliipple, Manning Emery, Marcellus Buf- 
ford, Gardner M. Goodrich, J. Albert Sanborn : Com. on invitations. 

Portsmouth, N. H., Dec 23d, 1872. 

In response to this Invitation and recommendation, it has been thought 
proper to call a meeting of the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth resident 
in this City and Brooklyn, to be held at the St. Cloud Hotel, Broadway, 
cor. 42nd Street (Messrs. Rand Bros., Prop's), on Thursday evening, Janu- 
ary 9th, at 8 o'clock. 

There has already been made a List of upwards of 200 names of natives 
and former residents of Portsmouth, now living in New York and Brook- 
lyn, and it is believed that it can be largely increased. 

It is hoped that every Son and Daughter of our native City, receiving 
this notice, will attend this first meeting. 



25 



"Oh, take ug back with all our years, 

Ye treasured haunts of j'outhl 
Forgive a few fond foolish tears, 

Tlie lieart's warm stamp of Truth I 
We come in manhood's riper hours 

To laj' our garlands down, 
And braid a wreath of fresher flowers 

For thee our native townl" 



"God bless the spot we love so well — 

Tlie earth has none more fair; 
'Tis honest pride, — our bosoms swell 

To breathe their native air ! 
Come lads, a clieer to speak our joy, 

While here our flag unfurls — 
A health for Portsmouth Man and Boy, 

And don't forget the Girls." 

( J. T. FIELDS, AT FIRST REUNIOJf, 

(JULYith, 1863. 

New York, January 6th, 1873. 

The following is the report of the Chronicle, concerning the meeting 
called in obedience to the foregoing circular. 

A very satisfactory meeting of the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth, 
resident in New York and vicinity, was held at the St. Cloud Hotel on 
Thursday evening. The Messrs. Rand placed one of their fine suites of 
private parlors at the disposal of their friends, and were active in their 
endeavors to advance the objects of the meeting. Mr. S. J. Nowell called 
the meeting to order and nominated Col. E. R. Goodrich as Chairman, and 
Mr. John L. Salter as Secretary, and the nominations were confirmed 
unanimously. Col. Goodrich asked to be excused from acting in any 
official capacity, although willing to serve "in the ranks" as earnestly as 
any, but the meeting urged his acceptance of the chair, which he finally 
took, with a few appropriate remarks on the object of the meeting and the 
reunion of the Sons next July. 

It was moved that a permanent organization of a Society of Sons be 
effected, and that the chair appoint a committee of five to present to the 
meeting a board of ofiicers, to appoint au executive committee and prepare 
a plan of organization. The Chairman appointed as a committee, Messrs. 
Samuel J. Nowell, S. G. Folsom, Henry S. Lambert and George J. Laigh- 
ton. The committee retired lor consultation on the board of otficers. 

During their absence the assemblage, which now crowded the large 
parlors, iaterchanged pleasant greetings and congratulations, manj' of 
those present not having met for years. The list of Sons and Daughters 
resident in New York, numbering over two hundred, was read by Mr. 
Salter. At nine o'clock the committee reported the subjoined board of 
officers, and on motion they were unanimously elected. 

President, Archibald A. Peterson. 

Vice Presidents, Charles L. Frost, Edwin R. Goodrich, D. D. Badger, 
Jacob H. Thompson, Thomas P. Salter. 

Secretary, E. P. Nowell. 

Assistant Secretary, John L. Salter. 

Treasurer, Jacob Wendell. 

It was moved and seconded that the chair appoint a committee to advise 
those gentlemen of their election, and Col. Goodrich appointed Messrs. 
George J. Laighton and Samuel J. Nowell. 

It was moved by Mr. Nowell " That the Board of Officers have authority 
to fill vacancies which may arise in the Board." Passed. 

Mr. Wendell said that he felt obliged to decline to accept the office of 
Treasurer, that he should be pleased to do privately all in his power to 
further the objects of the meeting, but his own business so completely 
occupied his time as to preclude his acceptance of the position. On the call 
from the chairman the meeting reluctantly accepted Mr. Wendell's resigna- 
tion, and the vacancy will be filled by the Board of Officers. 

It was moved and seconded, that the thanks of the society be tendered 
to Messrs. Rand Bros., for their courtesies. 

The names of those present, among whom were a large number of 
ladies, were then taken by Mr. Laighton and recorded by the Sec'y. At 
10 o'clock, P. M., the meeting adjourned, subject to the action of the 
Board of Officers. 

The reunion was a great pleasure to every one present, and the enthusi- 



26 

asm manifested indicates a large delegation from New York and Brooklyn, 
next summer. Col. E. R. Goodrich, is entitled to the warmest congratu- 
lations on the success of his efforts. 

At a subsequent meeting of the Society of the Sons and Daughters of 
New York, an Executive Committee was chosen, consisting of thirteen 
gentlemen and the Board of Officers ea:; officio. This Committee at once 
effected a most perfect organization, dividing into sub-committees, and 
allotting the various duties incident to the well-doing of so good a work. 
The manner in which the work was done, is known to every reader of this 
History, and to all present in our city during those memorable days. 

The following elections were afterwards held, resulting as follows: 
Jacob Wendell, Esq., Chief Marshal; Samuel J. Nowell, Treasurer, 
and John L. Salter, Secretary. 

The journey of the New-Yorkers, upon the boat, leaving New York at 
4 P. M., they describe as being a long evening of ecstasy. An assembling 
of nearly three hundred town's people, upon such a pilgrimage of love, with 
such delightful surroundings, with such hopes of joyful greetings, must 
have been fraught with tender, touching recollections. It was an expe- 
rience rare in life, and will ever be remembered with the same enthusiasm 
now shown by each of them when narrating its thousand incidents of 
gladness and exhilaration. After three hours of delicious music of their 
Band, during which were played the new arrangements, by Major Down- 
ing of " Home Again," and " Sweet Home," a meeting of the Society was 
called by Col. E. R. Goodrich. Mr. Geo. H. Laighton was chosen to the 
chair, and brief and telling speeches were made by Messrs. Wendell, 
Peterson, Babcock, Goodrich and Nowell. 

The Breakfast at the U. S. Hotel at Boston, on the morning of the 3rd, 
was another scene of hilarity and merriment. President A. A. Peterson 
and other kindred spirits were boys again, giving and receiving many an 
old-time thrust. There was story and jest at each of the tables, and there 
were recalled for the two hours, reminiscences that made this morning 
feast one of the most enjoyable of the many festivities. 

In connection with these New York matters, the reader will pardon us if 
we anticipate a little and give place to the following letter, as indicative of 
the feeling of the New Yorkers toward the projectors of the Reunion of '73. 

New York, July 29, 1873. 
Col. Wm. H. Sise, Portsmouth, N. H. 

Dear Sir : — We beg of you to receive from us, at this our first meeting 
since the Reunion, our united expression of thanks for your official and 
private courtesies during those happy days. 

We are enabled to estimate the great amount of work, and the multitude 
of details requiring the attention and management of yourself, and your 
able assistant, Capt. J. Albert Sanborn, and we believe from your first 
effort in the projection of this Reunion, to its satisfactory completion, j'ou 
have added a large skill, and heartiness to your office, and, in a great 
measure, contributed to the surpassing success of the Festival. 

Please accept. Sir, for yourself, and tender the gentlemen of your staff, 
the assurance of our sincere esteem and regard, 

and we remain, your friends, 
E. R. GOODRICH, JACOB WENDELL, 
GEO. J. LAIGHTON, SAMUEL J. NOWELL, 
H, S. LAMBERT, EDWARD BALL, 

Staff of the New York Delegation 

THE NEW YORK DELEGATION 

Arrived at Frenchman's Lane by special train, Thursday, July 3rd, at 
11.09, a. m. The military organization and a large concourse of citizens had 
been waiting nearly an hour. The New Yorkers formed in the line and 



27 

under the marshalship of Jacob Wendell, Esq., marched in front of the 
military drawn up to receive them, and halted. Mayor Marvin then 
welcomed them in a speech of model brevitj'', speaking as follows : — 

Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth resident in Nexv York and its vicinity: 
We are glad to see that the home ties binding you to old Portsmouth have 
drawn you hither in anticipation of the great event of to-morrow, when 
all the wide-scattered children of this city are expected to assemble here 
to be welcomed home. 

I congratulate you on your safe arrival, and hope that your fondest an- 
ticipations of pleasure will be realized. 

In behalf of the people of whom I am onei and for whom I speak, I 
tender you thanks for the beautiful tribute of filial affection with which 
you have adorned the home of your fathers. The triumphal arches which 
you designed and caused to be erected in Haymarket Square, will live, 
ever green, in our memory. 

You will now please accept a floral offering of welcome at the hands of 
this fair representative of Portsmouth youth and beauty. 

At the conclusion of the Mayor's address, Miss Norah Bartlett, daugh- 
ter of James P. Bartlett, Esq., presented Marshal Wendell with an elegant 
bouquet of flowers, amid the cheers of the spectators. Mr. Wendell re- 
sponded to the welcome and the gift most happily, as follows : 

Mr. Mayor, and Gentlemen and Ladies : 

In behalf of the delegation of Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth, resid- 
ing in New York and Brooklyn, and those who accompany us, I thank 
you for the kind expressions with which you have been pleased to extend 
to us the hospitalities of your city. 'Tis many years since some of us left 
Portsmouth, and you will hardly recognize any of us as the children who 
played in your streets, attended your schools and churches, and learned 
here the first rudiments of home education and knowledge with which to 
fight the battle of life in other places. But I think I can say for one and 
all, that though years have passed — though we shall mit^s the kind greet- 
ings of many who were wont to meet us years ago — though those who 
gave us their blessing and bade us God speed when we left the parental 
roof, have passed away — we still feel that we have come home. 

It was my privilege, on the return of the Sons in 1853, to be one of 
those who then hailed from Boston, and well do I remember the pleasant 
occasion. Little did we then realize the changes which in twenty years 
would take place. Children have become men and women, and now to 
assume the full responsibilities of life ; those of middle life have come to 
full maturity ; many are gone. But with those of us who remain, and 
who were present on that occasion, and with all of us now present, the 
familiar name of Portsmouth is dear, the affection for the homes of child- 
hood still burns brightly. 

We thank you, sir, for the opportunity you have given us, of once more 
meeting together in our native place. We come, or many of us come, 
from the larger cities, where it is hard to keep up the close friendships of 
early years ; but on this occasion, we all join as one, and renew together, 
by your invitation, the pleasures of our boyhood days. 

Receive us as Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth ; and though to some 
of us there comes a sadness that our Fathers and Mothers are not here to 
greet us now, your city contains their ashes, and their memories are 
closely identified in our hearts with the name of Portsmouth. We gladly 
accept your kind greeting, and when on the morrow the Sons and Daugh- 
ters of Portsmouth resident in other places shall crowd your streets and 
receive your kindness, you will I trust find none will do themselves more 
credit and prove more loyal to the home of their childhood, than the del- 
egation which I have the honor to represent on this occasion. Again, sir, 
I thank you. 

At the conclusion of the reception ceremonies the procession resumed its 



28 

march down Islington street, Downing's magnificent band playing "Home 
Again" in a manner that thrilled the hearts of all who heard it. Arriv- 
ing at the residence of Ex-Gov. Goodwin, chairman of the citizen's com- 
mittee, the procession halted and the baton of Downing brought out "Hail 
to the Chief." The Governor responded feelingly to the compliment ten- 
dered him and bade the visitors welcome. The march was then resumed 
through Islington, Congress, Pleasant and State streets to the Rocking- 
ham House, the headquarters of the delegation, after which the procession 
marched to Pleasant street and was dismissed. 

The out door promenade concert at seven o'clock on Thursday evening, 
on "Manhattan Park," nee Haymarket Square, drew like a powerful mag- 
net — tlie attraction being one of the finest bands in the United States, for 
surely genial Downing with his talented assistants are "moulded of mel- 
ody," as we heard one enthusiastic listener say. For over two hours that 
immense concourse forgot all about being tired, as they listened to the 
"Silver Trumpets" playing the Grand March which even Viviani himself 
might not recognize, so exquisitely had Downing put the finished and fin- 
ishing touches ; then the "Blue Danube" of Strauss reminded us of the way 
the French Band performed that same at the Peace Jubilee; and when 
Downing took his audience with him Le Voyage en Chemin de Fer, it was 
the culmination. Surely, such a musical feast must needs be rare in old 
Portsmouth. 

Following close on the Out Door Concert came the reception to our citi- 
zens, given by the Sons and Daughters from New York in the elegant par- 
lors of the Rockingham House : and notwithstanding the special request 
of the committee to the contrary full dresses and swallow-tailed coats pre- 
dominated. Crowds congregated in the parlors and saloons, to see and be 
seen ; all stifiness and formality were done away with, and general cordi- 
ality and freedom were distinguishing features. Relatives and friends 
long separated here met to revive old scenes, — tottering age and sparkling 
youth, some bearing laurels that a world has given, others with hopes yet 
untried, but all animated with the one thought, — a happy, happy greeting 
to all. 

Those accustomed to metropolitan magnificence, were free to confess that 
as a whole, this closing feature of the first festal day was very successful 
in the display of beauty, the richness of the dresses, and the freedom from 
any signs of stifi'ness. 

THE MEMORABLE DAY. 

The following morning, July 4th, was signalized by the usual demon- 
strations of the juveniles, through guns, pistols and fire crackers, which 
always serve to awaken fretful infants and disgust parents ; but as the cus- 
tom IS so thoroughly interwoven with the history of the day, we cannot 
hope for its total abandonment for years to come. 

The more welcome sounds of the ringing bells and booming cannons 
aroused those who had slept through the pistol firing and told them that 
the sun was rising to usher in a glad and festal occasion — the entertain- 
ment of our children. 

The day was exceedingly hot, yet the streets of Portsmouth were literally 
swarming with humanity of all ages from the gray-haired sire to the tod- 
dling infant, all seemingly filled with the spirit of the occasion. It is esti- 
mated that upwards of 25,000 people visited Portsmouth on the P'ourth, 
which, although a large number, is probably not exaggerated. 

CoL Wm. H. Sise with his chief of Staff, Capt. J. Albert Sanborn, and 
the Asst. Marshals and Aides formed the procession promptly at nine 
o'clock and marched to Frenchman's Lane to receive the Boston Sons and 
Daughters, who arrived about ten o'clock. 

The delegation marched out of the Lane, past the firemen and military 
drawn up in line on Islington street, to a spot opposite the late residence 



29 

of True M. Ball, Esq., wnere the official reception took place. Mayor 
Marvin, who. was accompanied by the officers of the city government, and 
other prominent citizens, stepped forward and spoke as follows : — 

Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth -. — In the name of your native city I 
extend to you, one and all, a hearty welcome home. This is our second 
grand family reunion, and I trust there are many present who remember 
the glorious time they had twenty years ago. To this number a host of 
younger faces have been added, and our only desire is that this visit may 
be as happy and as long to be remembered as the first. You have re- 
sponded to our invitation and are now gathered here on the threshold of 
the old homestead. You will have no need to look for the latch-string. 
The doors are all wide open. You have come from neighboring towns and 
sister cities ; from homes in distant though kindred States, and from far-off 
lands beyond the great oceans. Old Portsmouth greets her returning sons 
and daughters as a proud and happ}' mother welcomes her long-absent 
children, with open arms and joyful demonstrations. This is her 250th 
anniversary. She is a venerable mother, you see, but she holds her own 
remarkably well and never forgets her "auld acquaintance." She remem- 
bers just how many of her boys and girls hail from the great West ; how 
many from the sunny South ; how many roam the uneven seas, and sadly 
she remembers how few stay at home. But she is proud to know how 
much of the success and enterprise that fill the West are due to the brave 
pioneering of the Portsmouth boys, and that all over the country there 
are men and women worthy of their nativity. To-day we have another 
and still greater cause for rejoicing ; it is the 97th anniversary of our na- 
tion's liberty. I need not say how dear it is to the heart of every Ameri- 
can citizen. There is but one pjean running along the wires of our en- 
tire civilization, "God bless our native land." Again, I bid you a cordial 
welcome to old Strawberry Bank and proffer you escort through her shady 
paths to where the great tent is ready to shelter you from the heat, and 
loving friends are waiting to receive you. And, Mr. Marshal, as the rep- 
resentative of the sons and daugliters of Portsmouth, invested by them 
with authority, I invest you with this gold ring in recognition of the au- 
thority which they have entrusted to you ; and with great pleasure as the 
representative of Portsmouth, I now place it upon your finger. 

So saying, he placed the ring on the finger of Marshal Stevens, who re- 
plied in an appropriate manner. The inscription on the ring is as follows 
"Portsmouth to her Sons and Daughters, July 4, 1873." 

Marshal Stevens replied as follows : 

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : 

In behalf of the returning sons of Portsmouth, I thank you, most sin- 
cerely, for the very hearty welcome you have given us. This affectionate 
greeting of old Portsmouth, to her wandering children, finds a ready re- 
sponse in every heart. Wherever your generous invitation has reached 
the absent ones, o'er land or sea, they have instinctively answered "we'll 
come." And come we have, bringing with us our sons and our sons' sons, 
yes, our wives and our daughters also. 

Of those who came hither twenty years ago, some will return no more, 
hut a kind Providence has spared many to share in the pleasures of 
this second reunion. Some of us will clasp again the hand of an honored 
father, and receive a loving mother's embrace, while others will miss the 
loved and the honored ones, who have long since gone to their rest, and 
the faces of strangers will greet them in the old homestead. But your 
kind words assure us that all hearts, and all homes, will be open to us, and 
that we shall be everywhere welcome. We shall be, indeed, one family 
to-day. 

Some have feared that the delightful scenes of our former reunion could 
never again be produced ; but they little knew the resources of old Straw- 
berry Bank or the generosity of her resident Sons. Our mother town did 



30 

nobly then ; we are confident that she will, to-day, add fresh laurels to her 
brow. Those who enjoyed your hospitality on the former occasion, have 
ever since been lous^ing to come again ; and the younger sons, having lis- 
tened to the oft-told tale, are filled with joyful anticipations of this day. 
But we feel assured that the expectations of all will be fully realized. 

We have come, sir, at your bidding, to spend this anniversary as your 
guests; and while we shall rejoice in all the evidences of your material 
prosperity, our hearts will be chiefly gladdened by a sight of the familiar 
haunts of our youthful days. We long to walk again through the dear 
old streets, and to listen once more to the music of tlie bells that roused U3 
from our morning slumbers years ago. We long to take the hands of 
those we knew in school-boy days, those who used to help us celebrate be- 
fore the cares of life weighed heavily upon us. We rejoice, in fact, to lay 
life's burdens down for a day, and, in spirit at least, to be boys again. 
And we expect, having refreshed our hearts and minds with the scenes and 
the memories of olden times, to return to our duties on the morrow, better 
men and better citizens. 

Again we thank you for your generous invitation and royal welcome 
home. We have come, sir. with music and banners ; but music and ban- 
ners can butfaintl)' symbolize the joy in our hearts. No other place on 
earth can ever be the same to us as this sacred spot with all its hallowed 
associations. We have turned our steps hitherward to-day with feelings 
of pride and pleasure, with a kindly remembrance of the scenes of former 
vears, and with a deep sense of our indebtedness to them for success in 
life. 

Among our number are those who, since leaving here, have acquired 
fame and fortune, and have made a name, not only for themselves, but for 
their town, in the old world and the new; others there are, less widely 
known but not less worthy, whose honest, upright, useful lives have shed 
equal honor on the place of their birth ; ami there are others still, a noble 
band, who are just setting out in tlie battle of life ; but there is in the 
hearts of all an equally strong attachment to our mother town. And 
sure I am sir, that all, both old and young, will join most heartily with 
me in this sentiment : God bless old Portsmouth ! God bless our native 
home ! 

At Union street the industrial procession joined and the line of march 
was taken up in the following order : — 

FIRST DIVISION. 
Platoon of Police. 

Col. Wm. H. Sise, Chief Marshal. 

J. Albert Sanborn, Chief of Staff. 

Headquarters Staff. 

A. W. Odiorne, Quartermaster. 

Oliver S. Loomis, Asst. Quartermaster. 

Chas. A. Hazlett, Robert B. Palfrey, Chas. H. Hayes, Samuel Dodge, 
Floron Barri, Aides. 

Marshal of 1st Div., Elbridge G. Pierce, Jr. 

Aides— H. H. Ham, Jr., Plumer D. Norton, Horace W. Moses, Dr. John 
S. Perry. 

U. S. Naval Band. 

Drum Corps. 

Battalion of U. S. Marines, Major Philip R. Fendall, Com'dg. 

First Company — Captain W. E. Fagan. 

Second Company — Lieutenant David Whipple. 

Drum Corps. 

Portsmouth Guards, Maj. Daniel J. Vaughan, Com'dg. 

Independent Battalion, Maj. E. A. Tilton, Com'dg. 



31 

First Company — Capt. Thomas Tredick. 

Second Company — Capt. John Ritchie. 

Continentals, Capt. Justin French, Com'dg. 

Band. 

It is due to the military to say that they made a very fine appearance 
and contributed in no small degree to the splendor of the procession. 

Damon Lodge Knights of Pythias, Wm. O. Sides, District Deputy 
Chancellor Commander, Wm. S. Norton, Chancellor Commanding. 

This was the first public appearance of the Knights of Pythias, and 
much credit is due them for the order they maintained as well as for their 
generally fine appearance. 

Dover Cornet Band. 

Chief Engineer Portsmouth Fire Department. 

Board of Engineers 

Steam Fire Engine Dearborn No. 1, 21 men, J. Frank Shannon, Fore- 
man. 

Steam Fire Engine Sagamore No. 2, 21 men, Willard Sears, Foreman. 

Steam Fire Engine Kearsarge No. 3, 21 men, Ira C. Seymour, Foreman. 

Governor Langdon Fire Extinguisher Company, No. 5, Edwin H. Les- 
lie, Foreman. 

Davy Crockett Engine Co. No. 4, 21 Lads, William E. Tucker, Fore- 
man. 

Odlin's Cornet Band. 

Laconia Fire Co., Forrent No. 1, 40 men. 

Fisherville Fire Co., Torrent No. 2, 40 men. 

Our space forbids a description of the Fire Department in detail. Suf- 
fice it to remark that they formed a pleasant and an important feature of 
the procession. 

Carriages conveying Governor E. A. Straw, Mayor T. E. 0. Marvin of 
Portsmouth, Capt J. S. Thornton, of the Navy, Col. Murphy, Col. Pv,ipley, 
Col. Quimby, Col. Dan forth of the governor's staff, Adjutant-General 
Hayes, J. J. Morrill, Wm. P. Newell, S. P. Dow, of the governor's coun- 
cil. Rev. James DeNormandie, chaplain of the day, Albert Laighton, poet 
of the day, Col. Hackett of the governor's staff, Charles H. Horton, mayor 
of Dover, N. H., Hon. Daniel Marcy, Hon. Wm. Simes, Hon. Frank Jones, 
Albert R. Hatch, Esq., ex-Mayor Morrison, ex-Mayor John H. Bailey, ex- 
Mayor Jonathan Dearborn, High Sheriff Odlin, deputies James C. Brown, 
Joseph P. Morse, the City Council of Portsmouth and members of the press. 

SECOND DIVISION. 

Thomas S. Nowell, Marshal. 
Aides, John Laighton, Clarence 0. Walker. 
Gilmore's Band. 

Aide — Ezra A. Stevens. Marshal of Delegation. — Aide — Ex-Chief Mar- 
shal, President, Ex-President, Vice Presidents and other officers. 
1st. Div. "Sons of Portsmouth" residing in Boston. Aide — Col. John H. 
Jackson, Marshal. — Aide. — Brown's Brigade Band. 

2d Div. "Sons of Portsmouth" residing in Boston "Grandsons of Ports- 
mouth" residing in Boston. Aide — Woodward Emery, Manshal. — Aide. 
Delegation of "Sons of Portsmouth" from all parts of New England. 

THIRD DIVISION. 

Christopher C. Jackson, Marshal. Aide. 

Aides, J. D. Akerman, Chas. C Akerman. Downing's 9th N. Y. Regi- 
ment Band. 

"Sons of Portsmouth" residing in New York, Jacob Wendell, Marshal. 
Aides— Edward Ball, S. J. Nowell ; Col. E. R. Goodrich, first Asst. Mar- 



32 

shal, Geo. J. Laighton, second Asst. Marshal, Henry S. Lambert, third 
Aest. Marshal. 

"Sons of Portsmouth" residing in Washington, and all points South 
and West of New York ; Frank W. Hackett, Marshal. 

FOURTH DIVISION. 

E. D. CofBn and M. T. Betton, Marshals. — Aides, James A. Rand, Levi 
W. Marden. Seabrook Brass Band. 
[This was the Industrial Division and was made up as follows :] 

Old press used by Daniel Fowle, the first printer in New Hampshire. 

Modern Montague cylinder press, used for printing the New Hampshire 
Gazette. 

Ancient Stage Coaches, driven by Dan Jellison and Milo Smith. 

A "one horse shay" — a novel relic of antiquity, driven by Charles Wen- 
dell. 

Ship "Independence," Capt. A. K. P. Deering. 

Marble and Granite Works, Silas Philbrick & Co., Boiler Makers, Gerry 
H. Rheutan. Paint Shop, Edward D. Coffin. Mason & Stucco Workers, 
Fraser & Co. Marble and Granite Works, John S. Treat. Stove and Tin 
Ware, Uriah Blaisdell. Barber's Shop, J. F. Leverton. 

Boat Car, with Grecian Maidens, an Allegorical representation of Music 
cheering the Industrials pursuits, under the direction of Prof. Thomas P. 
Moses. Dry Goods, Hartley W. Mason. Sewing Machines, Charles S. 
Dodge. Dry Goods, Geo. B. French. Express, Jackson & Akerman. 
Kearsarge Mills. Express, Frye & Co. Furniture, Sheldon Bros. Agri- 
cultural Store, Woodbury Seavey & Co. Sewing Machines, J. J. Fessen- 
den. 

The industrial portion of the procession, was the result of the active 
labors of Mr. E. D. Coffin, and formed too important a feature to be passed 
without a brief description. 

Of the many elaborately trimmed and ornamental teams that carried the 
representative of industry and trade, one that attracted the attention of 
all observers who had eyes and ears open, was the boiler-makers on a car 
from the navy yard, under the charge of Mr. G. H. Rheutan. The din and 
clatter made bj'' the workmen as the car passed, also drowned the sound of 
the music of the band. There was the man at the forge and the men at 
work riveting a boiler just as they would have done had they been at work 
in the shop. 

The car that bore a full-rigged ship, the Independence, commanded by 
Captain A. K. P. Deering, attracted the attention of everybody. It was a 
novel sight for the street. The ship was under full sail and fully manned, 
just as though riding the waters instead of being drawn by oxen through 
the crowded streets of a city. Men heaved the lead, worked the pumps, 
and raised and lowered the sails, while the captain gave his orders like a 
true son of the sea. 

Then came a car filled with masons and stucco workers, furnished by 
Messers. Fraser & Co. The masons were laying brick and all the men 
were working away with as much assiduity as though they were actually 
engaged at tlieir usual labor. 

A car furnished by the Kearsarge Mills, Robert B. Adams, agent, carried 
a loom at which a weaver was at work as though in the mill. The weaver 
made three yards of excellent cloth while tlie'procession was moving, and 
pieces of it were in great demand among the friends of the agent. 

Among the most elaborately trimmed of the cars was that of Mr. H. W. 
Mason, the well-known dry goods merchant. It contained a large stock of 
valuable goods that were well displayed by the young ladies and gentle- 
men who stood behind the counters as though serving customers. 

Another beautifully decorated car was that filled with goods from the 
linen department of the dry goods stores of George B. French at No. 15 



33 

and No. 27 Market street. There was a fine display of rich fabrics and a 
number of his clerks rode in tlie car, handling the goods as though custom- 
ers were making purcliases. 

A car occupied with handsome furniture from the store of Sheldon 
Brothers on State street made a creditable appearance. Then there was 
another filled with musical instruments from the store of Mr. D. H. Mont- 
gomery, and a sewing machine wagon by Mr. Charles S. Dodge. The 
marble and granite works of John S. Treat and Silas Philbrick were well 
represented and made a good display. 

The stove and tin ware business was well represented by Mr. Uriah 
Blaisdell. Mr. John S. Tilton made a good show from his harness shop, 
and Messrs. Jackson & Co. sent an express wagon. Messrs. Frye & Co., 
also had an express wagon in the procession. 

The most beautiful and attractive car of all that made up the procession 
was the boat decorated by Mr. Thomas P. Moses. It was elegantly trim- 
med with green, gold and white, with appropriate mottoes. In the in- 
terior was a large golden harp and tinsel flower vases, with birds, flowers, 
arches, banners, etc., etc. Seated among all this splendor were young ladies 
dressed to represent Grecian maidens. They wore pink and white with 
beautiful crown caps and long white plumes. 

A great curiosity in the department of printing was the old wood and 
stone printing jyress on which the first N. H. Gazette was printed in 1756, 
and which is marked " T. D. 1742," — (Thomas Draper, of Boston.) The 
press is now owned by Mr. Frank W. Miller of this city. 

Also an old chaise probably built as early as 1730, in London, and im- 
ported by the British Consul here before the Revolution. The wheels are 
about five feet diameter, and the tires in sections, like ox-cart wheels; but 
strangely enou h, the axle is iron. There is a seat for a driver perched on 
the dasher, and a strap across between the shafts for resting his feet. The 
back and sides fold and fall back, leaving the top standing. This carriage 
was formerly owned by the late Col. William Gardner, and is a ver}' inter- 
esting relic of old time geutility. It is in good preservation, is owned by 
Mr. John S. Wendell, and probably cannot be duplicated in this country, 
if in the world. 

MOTTOES. 

The Boston delegation had about a score of mottoes on banners and were 
deserving of special mention. The following is a list of them : 

Sons of Portsmouth. Reverse — the same. 

We went out from you one by one. Reverse — " We return, an army 
with banners," (a quotation from the speech of F. E. Parker at the reunion 
of 1853. 

The Sons. Granite and ice grow hard grit. Reverse — The daughters. 
The sweetest arbutus is nursed by the snow bank. 

All hail our mother city. Reverse — The home of our hearts. 

" Absence has made the old liome dearer." [Danbury News. Reverse 
— "Stronger in our affections for it, firmer in our faith in it." [Dan- 
bury News. 

Picture of the Old South Church, with the steamer Kearsarge playing on 
the Boston Transcript building. Reverse— Boston Old South saved by 
Portsmouth " Haymakers." (An allusion to a nickname gained by tlie 
Kearsarge companj' at the Bo.-ton fire of i^ovember 9 and 10 ) 

Picture of a ship under full sail. " Homeward bound." Reverse — 
" My anchor falls where first my pennons flew." 

Boston claims your first son. David Tiiom(p)son settled Portsmouth 
1623. Reverse — Emigrated to Thom(p)son's Island, Boston Harbor, 1624. 

Cluster of strawberries. Motto — Best of all the berries. Reverse — 
Mason and George's Seedling, very prolific; bears transplanting, and needs 
no sugar. 



34 

Picture of a fire place from old Warner Mansion. Reverse — It is time 
to punch the back-log and put on a new forestick. 

" Home again." " Home, Bweet Home." Reverse — " When Johnny 
comes marching home." 

Strawberry bank. Return issues alwa5''s honored. Reverse — Picture of 
clasped hands. Motto, Two fives better than five-twenties. 

New Hampshire granite our foundation. Reverse — Massachusetts 
completes the structure of our manhood. 

Honor thy father and thy mother. Reverse — The glory of children are 
their fathers. 

The topography of to-day. Trimount and the seven hills. Reverse — 
picture of a phantom horse in a cloud, in the left-hand corner, and of a 
wheel in the right-hand corner. Legend — The hub wheeling into line. 

Seals of Massachusetts ; Boston, New Hampshire and Portsmouth. 
Reverse — Native of one, adopted of the other, proud of both, 

A few bad boys coming back to Rivermouth. Reverse — The Centipede 
Club grown a little (borne in the ranks of the grandsons.) 

'53 and '73. Reverse — Times to try men's soles. 

The rising sons. Picture of the sun rising out of the ocean. Reverse — 
May their shadows never be less. 

The procession was over a mile in length, and was so varied in character 
that it was one superb picture from beginning to end. Military in new 
and elegant uniforms and flashing arms and equipments ; firemen in their 
red shirts and beautifully decked engines ; the prancing steeds, drawing 
open barouches ; the twenty-five heavy decorated teams representing as 
many different occupations; the guests with their adorned banners and 
fluttering badges — ah ! it was inspiring, and no wonder the thousands of 
spectators could not express their joy and surprise, but make the welkin 
ring in pteans. The numerous and beautiful decorations along the route 
enhanced the scene — -in fact everywhere masses of bunting, evergreen and 
flowers and mottoes were displayed in profusion to remind one of the early 
fete days. Who can ever forget that moving panorama? We had all 
thought the grand parade in '53 could not be excelled, but the memorable 
parade of '73 will be recalled with a pride and satisfaction such as only 
those who were spectators of this scene can feel. When the procession 
reached the Academy, it halted with Gilmore's band fronting that 
ancient institution of learning. As the band continued playing, a 
scene ensued which thrilled every heart and stirred the emotions of every 
one in the procession. The young ladies of the public schools, number- 
ing four hundred, being seated on elevated seats, dressed in white and 
wearing silk sashes, had been provided with numerous bouquets, which 
they flung to the returning Sons, scores of them floating through the air 
at a time. The music of the band seemed to set the children in a fever of 
delighted excitement, and with one accord their handkerchiefs kept time 
with the band-master's baton. As the various delegations passed the Acad- 
emy, each halted and gave the young ladies clieer upon cheer, the schol- 
ars responding with songs. It was a rare sight, touching and inspiring, 
and thanks are especially due to Messrs. A. M. Payson and Charles E. 
Buzzell, by wliose efibrts the scholars were induced to take part. 

The procession passed down Islington and Congress streets, through 
Market, Deer, Vaughan, Congress and Pleasant streets, over Brown's hill 
and through Water, State, Cabot, Middle, Court, Pleasant, State and Mid- 
dle streets to the tent on Wibird's Hill where 3500 plates were laid for the 
honored guests. The exterior of the pavillion looked grand, decked as it 
was over its whole length of 300 feet, with streamers and banners of every 
color. At the entrance to the field and tent were arches. That at the 
field entrance was of flowers and evergreen, very tastefully designed and 
arranged. The other however, was much more elaborate. It was of the 
Roman design, surmounted with garlands and wreaths, the American 



35 

ehield forming the central figure, while on the front was the word " wel- 
come" twined in flowers. At the top of each column were large masses of 
flowers. The central arch was surmounted by the United States coat of 
arms. On either side were tall flaw-staffs from which were flying about a 
hundred feet of flags forming another arch. The interior was entirely 
lined with flags of all nations, caught at the top and draped to the sides, 
completely hiding the canvas. Intertwined was bunting of all colors, 
the whole forming two beautiful canopies. Around the sides of the tent 
were mottoes and shields and lieraldic designs. The main motto at the 
head of the tent was the words, in scroll letters, two and a half feet long, 
" Welcome sons ; welcome daughters." 

The dinner, which consisted of a substantial collation of cold meats, 
bread, pastry and cake, with cold water and lemonade, was partaken of 
about half past one, after which followed the literarj^ exercises, the fol- 
lowing gentlemen acting as Vice Presidents: Hon. Ichabod Goodwin, 
Lewis W. Brewster, Edward D. CofSn, John L. Elwyn, Albert A. Fer- 
nald, Joseph H. Foster, John S. H. Frink, Moses H. Goodrich, Hon. W. 
H. Y. Hackett, Josiali G. Hadley, Albert R. Hatch, Geo. W. Haven, John 
R. Holbrook, C. C. Jackson, Hon. Frank Jones, Alex. H. Ladd, Hon. D. 
Marcy, A W. Haven, Charles H. Mendum, Thomas S. Nowell, Wm. F. 
Parrott, Geo. W. Pendexter, Commodore Chas. W. Pickering, Elbridge G. 
Pierce, Jr., John Sise, John Stavers, George Tompson, Henry F. Wendell, 
Ezra H. Winchester, Hon. Jas. W. Emery, George E. Hodgdon. 

Mayor Marvin rose and said " We will now unite with our chaplain in 
asking the blessing of the Father of us all." 

Rev. James De Normandie then made the following 

Prayer. — Let us lift our souls up to the Throne of Grace. Our Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, without whose blessing no occasion can be 
blessed, and in the thought of whose presence, everything becomes holy, 
we look ur) to Thee witli our hearts full of gratitude for the unnumbered 
ways in which Thou hast revealed unto us Thy will. On this day, which 
we keep as the birthday of our nation, we would pray Thou would'st en- 
able us to discern Thine eternal laws, standing steadfast and unchanged 
amidst our human passions. Grant, we pray Thee, that we may be faith- 
ful to thee in our service ; that we may know that truth, and right, and 
justice, can be maintained only in true, in riglit, in just and noble works. 
On this day, which brings to our favored home so many absent ones, we 
thank Thee for the glad reunions which are found in so many homes. We 
pray for thy blessing to rest upon all who have come and upon all who 
could not. For this day of beauty, we thank Thee. For the divine order 
of this beautiful world we thank Thee. For the stream of thy blessings, 
flowing down unbroken through the ages, we thank Thee. Oh, Father 
Almighty, grant that we may be true and faithful to Thee, in the midst of 
all these gifts. Let not our sins gain the mastery over us. Grant that we 
may never ask to be delivered from the consequences of our transgressions, 
but be led thereby nearer to Thee. And oh Thou, who in Thine infinite love 
dost never overlook or fail to bless us, grant that we may receive every 
blessing with faithful hearts, and use it with consecrated wills, and so bB 
led every day nearer to Thee. And when the old homes of life are broken, 
gather us all into thy house eternal with Thee. And unto Thee, in the spirit 
of Jesus Christ, shall be all the praise and glory, world without end — 
Amen. 

The Mayor, — I have now the pleasure of introducing to you, James P. 
Bartlett, Esq., Master of Ceremonies. 

ADDRESS OF J. P. BARTLETT. 

Dearly Beloved, — It is a warm day, but our hearts are warmer than the 
day. There is a spark within us that always glows at the word " Home," 
and the friends around us. To-day, it kindles into flame, and we thank 



36 

God for our birthright ! (applause.) Will you now lend your willing ears 
to the well-known tones of our brother Barnabee, while he reads a poem 
written for this glorious hour by our well-beloved brother, Albert 
Laighton. 

Mr. H. C. Barnabee. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Oentlemen, — To oth- 
er lips belong the utterances of wisdom and wit which the reminiscences 
of this glad day of jubilee will call forth ; mine the privilege of acting as 
interpreter for my friend, whose modesty is only equalled by his ability. 
(Applause.) Glad shall I be if my voice can give proper expression to the 
kindling words of our home poet, whose welcoming ode I now read. 

WELCOME HOME I 

Where robed in beauty vale aud upland lie, 
Bathed in the glory of this summer sky ; 

Where evermore 
The beat of ocean on the rocky shore 
Makes music wild and sweet ; 
And ever free, the fleet 

Blue river winds by isle aud bay ; 
brothers, wandering far for many a year, 
sisters dear, 

We welcome you, to-day 1 
happy bells, ring out I 

Each breast responsive thrills : 

Ye valleys and ye hills 
Give back our greeting shout 1 
While strains of sweetest music charm the air, 

And starry banners float in skies of blue ; 
And blossoming arch aud wreathed column bear 

The heart's endearing language warm and true. 

What recollections throng. 
What tender thoughts arise, 
As here, beneath your native skies, 
Once more ye stand I 
Here live the echoes of your cradle-pong ; 
This is the fairy realm of childhood's time ; 
Youth's blest Arcadian clime ; 
The dream of manhood's prime ; 

The shrine of age; th' Enchanted Land, 
By airs of memory gently fanned ; 
The dearest spot beneath the heaven's blue dome ; — 

This, this is home. 
Home, with its streams and woods j 
Its cool, green solitudes 
In sylvan places : 
Its favorite haunts remembered long and well ; 
Home, where dear kindred dwell, 

And friendly faces 
Reflect our own, and kindly greeting give ; 
Where many a loved one lies in dreamless rest 
In yonder church-yard by the moaning wave ; 
(Ah! nevermore 
By sea or shore. 
Shall hand in hand be joined, or lip to lip be prest; 
Still they are with us here, 
We feel their presence near ; 

They speak to us and soul to soul replies ; 
For love, love never dies ; 
Love is a flower that evermore shall live ; 
Of heavenly birth. 
It knows no blight of earth, 
And blossoms even on the dusty grave ;) 
Home, with its memories sweet, its hopes, its fears, 
Its gladness aud its tears . 

fair, sweet Mother, cradled by the sea I 

Thy wandering children rest 

Once more upon thy breast 
Where they have longed to be I 
Where'er they roamed, beneath what alien skies 

Their lot was cast. 
Their thoughts still turned to thee, 
And homesick tears have gathered to their eyes ; 



37 

Thou wert the star whose ray 
Shone o'er the dusky pathway of the past, 

And led them where their fondest treasures lay. 

And we who never from thy side have strayed ; 
Whose hearts to thine are ever closely laid : 
In thy dear name we welcome them again ; 
Our hearts go out to meet them ; 
Our hands stretch forth to greet them ; 
Our lips rehearse once more 
The welcome song of yore, 
And answering lips repeat the joyful strain. 

And they, thy noble sons, 
The brave, true-hearted ones. 

Who fought in Freedom's name, 
For country and for thee; — 
Amid this festal scene 
We keep their memories green ; 
Whether upon the blood-stained field they fell, 
Or where the battle-flame 
Lit up the wreck upon the heaving sea ; 

Whether they languished iu the weary cell, 
Or, worn with pain, they turned to thee for rest, 
And died upon thy breast; 

Where'er for iis they perished - 

Each patriot soul is cherished ; 
Where'er their graves are found. 
To us 'tis hallowed ground ; 
And there on each returning spring 
The sweetest flowers we bring. 

brothers, wandering far for many a year, 
O.sisters dear. 
In this our glad reunion 
Our hearts as one are beating ! 
One joyous impulse every breast elates ; 

And though the parting word be spoken 
The spell shall not be broken ; 
The warm and heartfelt greeting, 
The sweet communion ; 
The charm that rests on river, sea and shore. 

The hue of sky and plain : 
These, in the mystic wreath that Memory twines, 
Shall be the fadeless flowers ; 
And thoughts of these glad hours 
Shall blend with visions of a happier sphere 
Than that which holds us here ; 
A summer land that lieth far away ; 
Where late or soon 
Our paths shall join again 
Divided nevermore, 
A city measured with the golden reed, 
Whoso walls are jasper, and whose gates 
(Each gate a pearl) close not by day, 
And whose foumlations broad 
With precious stones are bright ; 
A home that hath no night, 
Nor any need 
Of sun or moon. 
But where forever shines 
The glory of the Lord. 

Three hearty cheers were given for the poet, and he was londly called for, 
that the company might testify yet more emphatically their gratitude for his 
beautiful contribution to the interest and pleasure of the occasion, but he 
modestly kept his seat. 

The First Regular Sentiment was then read as follows : — " Massachu- 
setts and New Hampshire, not one bound to the other by a united gov- 
ernment, but united by ties of kindness." 

Address of Frank Goodwin, Esq., President of the Boston Society. 

It was the custom among the Romans, w are told, sir, to provide for a 
surplus of the population by establishing colonies upon the exposed fron- 
tiers ; and that those who were desirous to join the new settlement, being 



38 

invited to give in their names, when all the preliminaries were arranged, 
the whole body, with dread forebodings yet with colors flying, marched 
forth to take possession of their new home. I cannot help feeling deeply, 
sir, as I look around me upon the concourse of to-day, how is that picture 
reversed. We who went forth silently and singly on to the battle-field of 
life, — without parade — return here to-day, bound together by the common 
tie of nativity, and in solid phalanx, with grateful nearts, and witli our 
banners, come to take possession of our old home, and to enjoy its moth- 
erly welcome. 

And what a venerable old home it is, too, — two hundred and fifty years of 
life — and how crowded with time-honored associations. In walking these 
streets this morning, sir, I indulged in c^uite a reverie; and I had it borne 
in upon me, that the very stones we had been carelessly treading upon, 
had, when the town was already more than a century and a half old, been 
hallowed by the touch of Lafayette, of Steuben, of Langdon, of Washing- 
ton, a.nd of a host of others good and great. And I thought of Franklin, 
too, who came here in 1762, and personally superintended the erection of 
a lightning rod, probably of his own invention, — he who was so soon 
thereafter to help in shaping the destinies of our great republic. These 
and many other similar thoughts arose, until the dead past came to possess 
my eye with its own peculiar glamour ; and I thought to myself who, out 
of alt the vast ttirong that come here, to-day, who, ii.deed, upon this vast 
continent is there like one of these ? 

But, sir, further reflection swept this glamour of the past from off my 
eyes ; and when I remembered the great inventors of modern times and 
their inventions ; how that everything is utilized, even unto the great 
forces of nature; indeed, their utility being commensurate with their po- 
tency ; when I reflected that, owing to the genius of modern science, the 
very lightning that Franklin studied to defy now serves as a picket guard 
to warn us of the approach of the whirlwind and the storm ; and then 
again, when I reviewed the great character and learning and the ability 
of some, and the general intelligence of all that we bring back with us, 
coupled with what we find here at the old home, I came to feel that, after 
all, it is not that the beacon lights are any the less lofty, or that they 
blaze out any the less brilliantly to-day than in the by-gone times, but 
only that the tide has risen around them. 

We come here, to day, sir, to receive your parental welcome ; and in 
coming here we join with you in celebrating the 250th anniversary of the 
settlement of the town. But there is still another anniversary to my 
mind as worthy of commemoration perhaps as the one I have mentioned 
— the anniversary of a deed of municipal munificence — which, taken in 
connection with other noble acts of a similar sort, did more to lay the 
foundations of our present free republic than anything else. It is well 
known that the settlers at Odiorne's Point came here for very ditferent 
purposes from those which actuated the early settlers at Massachusetts 
Bay. The founders of Portsmouth came to fish and to trade ; while the 
founders of Boston came to worship God in their own way. Now in 1669 
several liberal citizens of Portsmouth, appreciating the necessity of main- 
taining the struggling school at Cambridge — that "first flower of the wil- 
derness," as it has been called — subscribed largely to a fund for its support, 
and the adoption by the municipality of Portsmouth, of the obligation that 
its citizens had taken upon themselves, to furnish aid to Harvard College, 
has its two hundredth anniversary this very year. And I think it safe to 
say that, although the people of the two provinces were harmonious, yet 
as they were ot dift'erent natures, in those very early days, that institu- 
tion of Harvard College, sustained in its struggling infancy by this noble 
municipal act, probably did more to modify the difi'erences between the 
Massachusetts Roundhead and tiie New Hampshire trader than anything 
else, to soften, by a broad culture, the asperities of the Puritan and to ele- 
vate the tone of the man of the world. 



39 

Thus, sir, have Massachusetts and New Hampshire ever had a common 
interest. And they have had a mutually helpful spirit also ; and when 
your city was devastated by tiie memorable fire of 1813, the system of in- 
surance being then in its infancy, it was Boston that of all the cities con- 
tributed most liberally to repair the loss and relieve the distress. So, sir, 
in coming here to-day, we feel that after all, we have only removed from 
one room to another m the ancestral domicile. Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire are one, essentially one. The law may, as it does, separate 
thein by imaginary lines. an<l d'eclare them foreign to each other ; the fed- 
eral bond even, may hereafter be severed, and anarchy or petty sovereignty 
ensue, but they must ever remain unsevered. In every trial of their his- 
tory they have been found together. In the maritime expedition against 
Louisburg, in the conflicts with French and savage violence, in the 
hopeless campaigns of the Revolution, in the wavering contests of the re- 
bellion, at the camp fire in the wilderness and on the open plain of battle, 
their sons have ever been found together. The same blanket has covered 
them at night and the same reveille has sounded in their ears in the morn- 
ing. They have trodden together the path of glory, and they have died 
together at its end. 

Prom the time that Myles Standish, winding along the coast line from 
Plymouth, set foot on Odiorne's Point, to ask and receive succor for his 
famishing colony, to the time that the South surrendered the keys of her 
capital to a Massachusetts otBcer, and the dwelling of her chieftain to New 
Hampshire troops, they have been found together. And, sir, when we re- 
turn to the places from whence we have departed, and assume once more 
our accustomed duties, we shall feel, not that we have gone to another land 
but that we are still on the soil of our origin. [Loud applause.] 

The Master of GEKEMOJfiES. — Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth, 
abroad and at home ! I propose three cheers for Frank Goodwin, Presi- 
dent of the Boston delegation. This call met with a warm response. 

Second Regular Sentiment. — New York. — Bound to her by all the 
ties which hold us to the great centre of universal commerce, the nearest 
and dearest pledges of our interest in her prosperity are the sons whose 
achievements in every field of her vast enterprise reflect honor upon the 
place of their birth and the state of their adoption. 

Address of Jacob Wendell, Esq. 

Mr. President: — 1 did not suppose until a late hour that I should be 
called upon, for it was distinctlj'- understood by my friends in New York 
that I should on this occasion be like the traditional small boy, seen but 
not heard, but it seems ordered I should reply to the sentiment which 
has been oflered. 

I do not believe, sir, there is one of this company whose recollections 
of Portsmouth are more pleasant than my own, and Us remembrance is al- 
ways a fresh happiness. 

It was here, sir, (I address Gov. Goodwin) and in your counting-room 
that I had my first business adventure. I shipped 80 barrels of potatoes 
to southern ports, and finally after weeks of anxious waiting, netted 12 
cents. 

I am here, sir, on this occasion to represent New York, the great metro- 
polis of our country, I might say its very heart, the pulsations of which are 
felt from one end of it to the other, where business is done on a gigantic 
scale, whose commerce comes from every clime, whose merchants are ever 
ready to respond to every religious, charitable or worthy object, that com- 
mends itself to their good judgments. Why, sir, I have been told oiten by 
those visiting East from West or South seeking aid for some religious so- 
ciety or institution of learning, that after all it is in New York they get 
their greatest help, and with ail due respect to other places, I feel I can 
safely say to every young man here, native of Portsmouth, that there is no 
place in this country where if you are active, persevering, industrious and 



40 

honest with a proper regard for economy, j'our success is more fure than 
in New York. 

There was a time when New York and Portsmouth were fully as closely 
interested in each other as at the present time. I refer to the Colonial days 
— when the news of the passing of the stamp act was received in the Col- 
onies and the people had recovered from the first shock of amazement that 
so odious a measure should be passed upon them — a general convention 
was held in New York, the result of which was a declaration of rights, a 
petition to the king and a memorial to both houses of Parliament — and 
shortly after a resolution emanating from New York and sent to the other 
colonies directing English merchants to ship no more goods to Ameiica and 
no goods coming from England should be held on commission in the Col- 
onies after a certain date. 

The other colonies in turn took up the key note which New York had 
sounded and I have in my hand the original records of the first meeting 
which was held in Portsmouth on the 28th of September, 1768, at the 
house of Mr. John Stavers — the document is long or I would read it ; — 
suffice it to say that Jonathan Warner, Samuel Rindge and Jacob Slieafe 
were appointed to present the action of this meeting to the trade. The 
action of the colonies is a matter of history, but this document has a local 
interest. 

New York and Portsmouth have always been interested in commerce — 
New York building her first vessel as early as 1614, and in 1631, she built 
a ship of 800 tons. What a monster, sir, it must have seemed in those 
days ; but it was only emblematical of the great city. She has outstripped 
all others in this country, and bids fair to compete favorably witli the 
large cities of the old world. 

Portsmouth has done her part to make up the enterprise of New York ; a 
son of Portsmouth fills a most prominent position in one of our most influen- 
tial journals. You see, sir, in our streets, the mark of Portsmouth in iron 
buildngs cast by one of her sons. Sir, if you could know, as I do, the en- 
ergy, the perseverance, the headwork done by two of the members of the 
New York delegation (and to them belong the credit for all that has been 
done,) — I refer to CoL E. R. Goodrich and S. J. Nowell, — in laying plans 
and carrying them into eflect for this celebration, you would feel honored, 
sir, that your city is represented in New York, by such energy and enter- 
prise. May the good influences which here abound be instilled into the 
minds of the rising generation and may Portsmouth and New York in 
another twenty years again clasp hands, each thankful for the past, but; 
more than ever proud ; Portsmouth that her sons have j)roved worthy of 
her ; New York that she is fortunate to have secured them as a part of her 
great community. 

At the close of Mr. Wendell's remarks three cheers were given for the 
marshal of the New York delegation. 

The friends of Col. Goodrich vainly endeavored to get a speech from 
him, but although prepared to talk, his modesty overcame him, and he 
speaks now by proxy, paying an eloquent and touching tribute to the 
home of his childhood. 

Mr. Chairman: — By any arrangement of your Committee, I was not 
set down for a speech, nor do I now getup for one. During the remarks of 
my friend Chief Marshal Wendell, I was engaged in a very animated dis- 
cussion with one of the returning daughters from the City of Boston, and 
did not hear the sentence touching myself made by my superior officer ; 
but I know his generous impirlses, and I fear, sir, that he has said too 
much. I was claiming, just now, in my talk with this Boston lady, that 
the first thought of the ' 53 Reunion was that of the President of our del- 
egation, and who was then its Chief Marshal — Archibald A. Peterson. I 
hold in my hand, sir, the baton carried by him on that memorable occa- 
sion ; and if there has been anything in our marching or evolutions of 



41 

yesterday or to-cLay at all creditable, much is due to the influence of so 
interesting a relic. 

My dear old lady friend stoutly contested that she first gave pub- 
licity to these Reunions, while I have as loudly insisted upon it for my 
friend Peterson ; but you all know the pertinacity of this female in good 
things and I have no ambition, sir, that she should go into practice with 
any of those little persuasives so often submitted to by poor old Parting- 
ton ; and I left her, brandishing her cane, all ready to ejaculate " These 
New-York chaps can cover the old town all over with their colored ban- 
tling and their Manhattan hats, but as the great poet A. Jackson, so 
sweetly said, ' By the eternal, twas I.' " 

But, Mr. Chairman, I can't talk. When Gen. Burnside, at a Reunion of 
the Soldiers of his corps was made the recipient of a greeting and ovation 
such as his men only can give, and such as few other than he ever receive, 
he rose from his seat, and essayed a speech, but ' twas too much for him. 
He uttered a half-dozen syllables and sat down, more eloquent in his 
silent stifled emotion than any words could have been. An old sailor 
General of the Oorps, once known to many of you, exclaimed to the boys, 

" The old fellow' s heart is full, Ood bless him." 

There are many old fellow's hearts here to-day too full for talk. My 
own has in by-gone been stirred by love and battle, by joy and trouble, 
but I have never realized until to-day its wonderful capacity. The shouts 
of welcome, the happy faces, the joyous gz-eetings of yesterday were quite 
enough for us nervous New Yorkers ; but as we have just now traversed 
over the dear old town, every house seems classic with memories ; every 
street turning recalls a legion of childhood's joys ; and, passing church, 
school-house, birth-spot, and the old home, how stored is the hour 
with tender, touching recollections. Hallowed to us by innocent sports 
are the beautiful river and harbor, the ponds and creeks, the fields, woods, 
and beaches; dear and precious to us are the memories of pastor and 
teacher, the day and sabbath schools ; — and sacred forever to us all, is 
yonder old South yard, where sleep so many of the cherished ones over 
whose bosoms we will lovingly scatter the fragrant tributes of our ever- 
continuing affection. 

Mr. President, I am sure, sir, that I should make some apology for the 
too generous exuberance of my friends and townies fiom New York. It 
is true, that there have been bestowed much time and thought to this work 
of love, but no compliment of praise is due to one or any for doing that 
which not to do is a shame and ingratitude. Each of us has done, as each 
has felt to do, everything that would best promote all of the joys of this 
happy Festival and all out of love for the old folks at home. No per- 
sonal aggrandizement no emoluments, but all moved by the one senti- 
ment — " Tliis is my own, my native land. " 

Men and women of Portsmouth! I thank you most sincerely for this 
delightful occasion. It has been a pleasure royal in kind and quantity; 
it has put into memory's casket its dearest gem ; it has been a benedic- 
tion of love that shall echo all our lives through. May God bless and 
prosper you and yours. 

The Third Regular Sentimekt was : — Our Scholars Abroad. — The 
laurels tliey wear had their root in the soil of New Hampshire. 

This was responded to by Rev. A. P. Peabody of Harvard College. He 
said : — 

" Our Scholars abroad" have many of them of late years come under my 
charge, and I can speak of them as having done abundant honor to their 
native place. But " our scholars a-broad" has a much larger significance. 
You have seen, I have no doubt, the Declaration of Independence inscrib- 
ed in a space covered by a dime. In asking me to speak of the scholarly 
and literary merits of Portsmouth, in five minutes, you have asked me to 
perform very much more than that feat. (Laughter and applause.) 



42 

The literary worth and eminence of Portsmouth has been constant, 
broad, largely diversified, reaching from the first Penhallow, who wrote a 
" History of the Indian Wars," famous in his time, down to those who, in 
every department of literary creation and work, are doing honor to our city. 

Within the last twenty-five years in the metropolis of New England, al- 
most all good literature has passed through Portsmouth hands, either in 
authorship, editorship or in the publication department. (Applause.) 
For in each of these departments you know we have men eminent of their 
kind. The house over which our friend Fields so long presided, has made 
itself the one illustrious publishing house of America, and lias won a con- 
tinental, and even so far as the English-speaking world is concerned a cos- 
mopolitan fame. From that house, as you well know, has issued, within 
the last few years, not only a large portion of our best productions in liter- 
ature, but several periodicals, wluch have an enduring place in the literary 
reputation of iNew England, and of these periodicals, a large part of the 
editorial work has been done by Portsmouth men. (Applause.) 

But if I were to particularize those who have been thus honored, I should 
only show, not my partiality, but my thoughtless ignorance for the time 
being. True it is not a hazy and dim galaxy before me, wben I try to 
single out " bright, particular stars," but their lustre is so confused and 
blended in the medium through which I look upon these faces to-day, that 
I cannot single them out. 

Let me, however, in closing, say a word for one who cannot be here and 
upon whom the li»ht of this day cannot shine. Among the good works 
done by our friend IShillaber, whom we always delight to honor (loud 
applause) , has been the editing of the poems of our blind and suffering 
bard, Daniel A. Drown. I spent an hour or two yesterday in reading 
some of his poems : sweet, deliciously sweet and pure ; pensive, indeed, aa 
they well may be, coming from one who has sull'ered these long years, and 
who has been withdrawn from his very youth until now, in the late ma- 
turity of manhood, a period approaching to old age, from all the joys of 
life, — but breathing the sweetest contentment, patience and resignation. 

And let me say, in one concluding word, that in the galaxy of which I 
have spoken, there are some brighter spots than others, but there are none 
of those obscure patches that we sometimes see in a luminous track. I 
know not a name among the literary men of Portsmouth, which I sliould 
not be glad to recognize here to-day. I know not one who has not done 
himself iionor ; I know not one of whom his native place, or the place from 
which he emigrated, may not be proud. (Applause.) 

Music — " Auld Lang Syne." 

Fourth Regular Sentiment: — The great West: — We hail with joy the 
laying of every additional tie or rail that brings us nearer to her, but our 
strongest tie is the love we bear to our sons and daughters, scattered over 
its plains. 

ADDRESS OF ROBERT L. HARRIS, ESQ., OF CHICAGO. 

The Great West is a broad subject, on which it were more easy to dwell 
for hours than for minutes. At the time of the last general gathering of 
the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth — twenty years ago — the Great West 
had just commenced in earnest its part in the great drama marked out for 
this nation. Belore that time the tide of immigration had not reached in 
any large numbers the broad and fertile prairies of Illinois and the other 
States bordered by the JMississippi river. So rapidly did immigration fol- 
low the introduction of railroads, in these States, in the years that imme- 
diately ensued, that when the war came they were not only able to put 
vast armies into the field, but had enough left to do their part of feeding 
all, whilst New England did its part in the way to which it was more suit- 
ably adapted. 

The war ended, the great West solved the problem that troubled the 



43 

anxious, What is to become of this vast army ? by receiving into its bosom 
all who sought it, and providing them with immediate means of employ- 
ment and wealth, and by its vast and unlimited resources is helping to 
solve the other problem, How to pay the national debt, by tempting the 
teeming population of ihe old countries, with farms and every luxury the 
heart of man ought to desire, to come over and help us to do it. But 
•whilst the great West offers so bountifully the means of growth in material 
wealth, it cannot surpass — it will do well if it can equal — this good old 
town, in the means it atibrds for growth in what is far more valuable, 
and without which material wealth is scarcely desirable — the virtues that 
adorn life. The beauty that distinguishes the city and its surroundings 
should, as it does, cultivate the poet and the scholar — and ever invites to 
a love of the beautiful and true ; and in behalf of those for whom I am in- 
vited to respond, 1 thank you, kind friends, for calling us back from our 
distant homes to mingle for a a day amid these scenes of beauty and peace, 
and to receive your congratulations for whatever success may have attend- 
ed our efforts to carry into practical life the good lessons learned here, and 
to strengthen our desire to do honor to those who thus honor us with their 
interest. 

Fifth Regular Sentiment: — The Daughters of Portsmouth: — The 
mothers and ornaments of other towns. 

ADDRESS OF JAMES T. FIELDS, ESQ. 

Mr. President, Brothers and Sisters : — In that imaginative series of paint- 
ings called " The Voyage of Life," by our thoughtful American artist, 
Cole, we see the child tended by its guardian angel, in a boat laden with 
flowers floating out into the stream between banks that are gilded by the 
rising sun ; then the youth full of hope and courage, taking the helm into 
his own hand, his guardian spirit gazing upon him anxiously from the 
shore ; then the mature man driven onward into the eddies and rapids of 
the river ; and then the grey-haired voyager who, having approached the 
mouth of the stream, is being launched into that great, mysterious ocean 
which lies in shadow, dark and vague, before hira. Cole might have 
painted that picture from our own abounding river witii its flowery banks, 
its eddying forces and its grand and lordly union with the sea. 

There runs the stream ; such is the voyage of life ; here stood our guard- 
ian angels and watched us as we hurried away from these fair and peace- 
ful shores. Some of us return to bless them ; and some have sailed out be- 
yond the billows into the silent land. 

Mr. President, — The sentiment you have just announced, though old as 
human affection, is ever new and welcome. To us who have come up on 
this hallowed morning to the city of our birthplace, this spot of all the 
world, dearest and best to every one of us, a toast which celebrates the 
daughters of Portsmouth carries a devout and reverential meaning to 
every throbbing heart. We do not assemble here on this proud anniver- 
sary — returning pilgrims to a holy shrine — to flatter or burn incense 
before our living mothers and sisters and wives and daughters, or to light 
up afresh, simply, the enduring tapers of praise around the tombs of those 
who have loved us, and are now passed into the skies. I take it for 
granted every man of us feels and knows that a woman born in Ports- 
mouth is about the best production which this little planet of ours is in 
the habit of gracing the universe with. 

We do not, I repeat sir, come back all the way from New York, and 
Boston, and Philadelphia, and St. Louis, to utter superfluous words about 
any of them. Here they are, God bless them, to speak for themselves 
— married and single ; mothers, grandmothers, and dear old motherly 
aunts, and aunts that are motherly only by adoption — here they are 
beaming their fond loving eyes upon us, — and all we say is, beat those 
eyes if you can ! 



44 

I wish there were time to refer adequately to those of our girls who 
have graced our literature with their prose and their poetry. Tlie names 
of Thaxter, and Kimball, and Barnes, and Simes, and Whiton, and Knight 
and Roberts are enough of the honored roll, however, to remind you that 
New England has received from Portsmouth exquisite additions to her 
literary fame. 

And just here, Mr. President, I have a special word to say to my 
brothers about our much esteemed sisters. The men of the world have not 
until quite recently begun to deal out even-handed justice to the women 
of the world. And even now many of us hang back, and are not quite 
ready to see why they should have the same opportunities, mental and 
national, with ourselves. For one I believe that this universe will never 
be wholly finished, never thoroughly ripened, until woman everywhere 
shall have the avenues to education and government open to her, as wide 
and expansive as God's universal providence, which is over all and for 
all. I have no sympathy whatever with that mediasval superstition, or 
that blind modern predjudice, which underrates the human brain by 
classifying it into male and female. And I fully believe that a new era of 
happiness is waiting to dawn on that portion of the earth where woman 
shall be tlioroughly educated, — educated, not ornamented only, and where 
mind shall be equal and intellect triumphantly crowned without any re- 
gard to sex. 

Dickens, in his own beautiful way, says, " The pride of a mother in 
her children is composed of two cardinal virtues — Faith and Hope ; " 
and let me emphasize, in the hearing of my younger friends who are with 
us to-day this earnest injunction : Have a care that you never whiten by 
unloving words or deeds one hair of that dear head, or mark with sorrow 
one line on that dear face. Remember that a mother's love is perennial ; 
that it knows no change; it is that Bethlehem star in the East which 
comes and stands, forever undimmed, over, where the young child was ! 

I was honored by being called up to respond to a sentiment which 
touches us all deeply — " The Daughters of Portsmouth." May I claim 
your attention two or three moments longer by reading a few verses, made - 
for this occasion, not by myself, but by the better half of me, who had 
the accidental misfortune not to be born in Portsmouth. I never heard 
her say she regretted being born in Boston but I am sure if the popular 
prejudice was not in favor of a mortal's having only one birth place — if 
she could by any special dispensation have had two — her choice for one 
of them would have fallen among you, my friends, in this time-honored 
city. 

But you shall hear the verses she sends to you, and judge how loyal she 
is to our native place, which might have been her own, I am willing to 
believe, had the selection of nativity been left entirely to her. 

A welcome to your happy shore, 

From one who loves your sea-washed town, 
As lovers ever love the more 

Another's not their own. 

The music of these ancient sands, 

Gay flutterings of the populous trees, 
The sunset stretching golden hands 

Across the purple seas. 

Are all to-day as once they were 

Strong in the light of changeless youth. 
And variously their voices here 

Repeat one loving truth. 

Roses and lilies fade, and dumb 

.Must grow the birds — yet springs return. 
Gray hair is not true manhood's sum. 

Nor life's the dusty urn. 



45 

The boy is ever Nature's friend, 

Sbe whispers lest he should forget, 
" Tliy youth and mine can never end 

However time may fret."* 

" Return," she says, "to the old home, 

Through sun and dark I always wait 
To show my boys, whene'er they come 

They never are too late." 

In rest of Sunday afternoon 

Still as of old the shadows creep 
Past the old church, and just as soon 

Stretch on the fields asleep. 

Still after service, faithful done 

The second time, I stay to meet 
The group returning, dance in the sun 

To tempt- their restless feet. 

With those I love age cannot stay, 

Though wisdom bring her silver gift, 
Their hearts with me are still at play, 

Whatever storm may drift. 

" Dear boys " she whispers, " all is well ! 

The love that brings ye back to me, — 
Deeper than toneue can ever tell, — 

Gives back thy youth to thee. " 

The audience responded to a call for three cheers for the champion of 
the daughters of Portsmouth with a hearty good will. 

Samuel J. Nowell, of New York, High School boys of New York — 
James T. Fields — we all love him — give him three more. This call, also, 
was responded to with enthusiasm. 

Sixth Regular Sentiment: — Our Public School System — One of the 
fountains from which springs the intellectual, political and commercial 
greatness of the people. 

ADDRESS OF REV. EDWARD A. RAND. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen ;— If I wanted to prove the truth 
of that sentiment, I would take this gathering here to-day as the proof. 
It is with pleasure that I stand here and recognize my indebtedness to the 
public schools of Portsmouth. For me, around that dingy old structure 
on State street, in whose lower story, as the Grammar School teacher, for- 
merly presided Mr. Timothy G. Senter, and in the upper part, as master of 
the High School, was Mr. Israel P. Kimball, — I say, around that old build- 
ing there is a glory in my eyes that I am afraid no palatial structure can 
ever possess. I remember that our teachers drilled us to the idea of con- 
science in study. I recognize our public school system in Portsmouth as a 
shaping tool in my personal character. I never can forget the studious- 
ness of the boys there. I speak with no disparagement of the girls; they 
did just as well in Mr. Nichols' school ; but I know more about the boys. 
I can speak of the studiousness of the lads ; of their accuracy in mathe- 
matics ; of their thoroughness in history ; and of the fact, that they were 
good Latin scholars. I am glad that Portsmouth, in these days, when the 
classics are apt to be disparaged, still insists in a knowledge of Latin in its 
public schools. I do not believe that her boys and girls, as they go out, 
will ever make such a blunder on their Latin as I noticed not long ago, in 
connection with an anecdote told of one of the old Scotch professors. It 
was in those days when the professors were accustomed to address their 
pupils, in the recitation room, in Latin. One of the pupils had been guilty, 
before the eyes of the instructor, of jumping over a table, and the old Pro- 
fessor addressed him in Latin. He got along quite well at first, but after 
a little while his indignation became so great that he committed a very 
erious blunder. " Norme video te, jwnpantem over the table!" (Merri- 



46 

raent.) I hope the boys and girls of the Portsmouth schools do better than 
that when they go out. 

I want to say, Mr. Propident-, that there is something of which we in 
New England may especially boast, as our great glory, and that is, our 
common school system. Not long ago, I heard a gentleman from England 
say that that was our greatest source of pride — our common school system. 
And in Massachusetts, acting upon that idea, they have floated a New 
England school-house across the seas, to be exibited at the Vienna Expo- 
sition ; and if they had only come down and taken Master Payson, and 
Master Smith, and some of the Portsmouth boys and girls, ami filled that 
school-house they would have shown a more complete illustration of what 
we consider as the corner-stone of New England civilization. (Applause.) 
We must not forget, that at the bottom of our common school system is that 
idea, which is so identified with our entire political greatness. It is that 
of the worth of the individual irrespective of caste, or color, or creed ; we 
have not yet got quite so far as to say " or sex," but I hope we shall. 
(Applause.) The worth of the individual ! In Spain, a man who was an 
American by birth, and had also been an English citizen, was brought be- 
fore a Spanish court, and condemned to death. What did his friends do? 
They threw over him the glory of the stars and stripes, and draped him 
with the broad Union Jack, and then turned to the appointed executioners, 
the musketeers, and said, " Fire if you dare !"and they did not dare to 
fire. It was the Government that was represented in the individual ! and 
if there is any nation on the face of the earth where the government is 
represented in the individual, it is in America, and especially in New Eng- 
land. And because the individual in our common school system is consid- 
ered to be of such worth as to be so fully educated. I glory in our public 
school system, and rejoice in its identity with our national greatness. It 
means to me that the time has come when we should have a National Uni- 
versity, where should be gathered the very front men of the nation for in- 
tellect, and that the doors of this University should be thrown open, not only 
to men but to women, where they should receive, without cost, the most 
liberal culture. 

Before I close, I want to say, that we must not forget, that here to-day 
we are remembering old New Hampshire. We stand over the cradle of 
New Hampshire — that cradle that was rocked by strong sea winds two 
hundred and fifty years ago. We can point with pride to the men whom 
New Hampshire has sent out, and we rejoice in her mountains. We send 
out the men who rule the country, and then we call the country in to look 
up to the grand peaks of our mountains. As we are remembering New 
Hampshire now, as we think of the great men who have gone before us, — 
names that shine in the constellated glory of the departed, — we must not 
forget how much they owed to the public school system of New Hamp- 
shire, and I trust that this State, with regard to her ideas upon education, 
will not be found in the rear consenting, but will be found in the front, 
commanding. Have you forgotten the old story connected with the war ? 
There was a sergeant or color guard who had gone ahead of the men in a 
certain fight with the colors. "Come back !" said the captain ; "bring 
the colors back where the men are !" "No," said the brave soldier, "bring 
the men up where the colors are !" (Applause.) 

New Hampshire must take the lead, and then it will be for all to come 
up and follow. (Three cheers for the High School boys.) 

The Master of Ceremonies. In connection with the eloquence to 
which we have just listened, I will propose as a sentiment : 

The Army and Navy of the United States. — A representative of the 
Navy was here, but I am afraid he has gone. He is a modest man, but a 
very courageous one. I refer to Capt. James S. Thornton, the hero of the 
Kearsarge. He is not a Portsmouth boy, but he is a native of New Hamp- 
shire, which is the next best thing to being a Portsmouth boy. We are 



47 

proud to have him here, and proud as a nation to claim him. (Captain 
Thornton did not respond.) 

Mr. Bartlett then said , "You are all aware, that the projectors of this 

fraud meeting were principally the young men, Sons of Portsmouth, at 
ome and abroad; but let me assure you that so far as those more ad- 
vanced here in Portsmouth are concerned, although they have been less 
active in the matter, they have most heartily endorsed and encouraged 
the young men who were engaged in making the arrangements for this 
glorious festival. Foremost among them, is one whose name brings a thrill 
of pleasure to my heart, as I have no doubt it will to the heart of every 
one here, the evening of whose life I trust will be as peaceful as its morn- 
ing and noon have been active, useful, noble and generous. I refer to 
the Hon. Ichabod Goodwin, Ex- Governor of New Hampshire. 
Geo. Goodwin's response was as follows : 
The cordial welcome that has greeted you, ladies and gentlemen, on 

four return, can gain nothing from any words of mine. I know not that 
can find anything more pertinent to say, than to speak to you as one of 
the oldest citizens of your old home, and to renew to you in their behalf 
what the civic authorities, the active youth, and the citizens at large, all 
have shown you — a plentitude of welcome. 

We greet you, our hearts kindled with the love of parents for their 
children, of brothers and sisters, of neighbors, playmates and school com- 
panions, and freshened and kept aglow by all the associations of our early 
life. 

I, who address you, well remember the conflict that filled the soul, when 
the hour came, to leave the paternal home, to seek a new one among 
strangers; and though time may have effaced the sting of parting, — the 
new house having grown to be an old one — yet, I can well appreciate the 
feelings that burn in your bosoms to-day, for I know that though oceans 
and continents separate us from the home of our childhood ; though time 
sever us long from it, yet throughout life, whether in prosperity or in adver- 
sity, the mind will find itself straying off to take a look at the Father-land, 
and that the very thought of the old home, ever will work a deep emotion 
in the soul. We rejoice to see so many of you, not looking in imagina- 
tion to the place of your nativity, but visiting it in person. 

You come back to a home of which you may be proud, and we are 
proud to meet you at the old homestead, though it is not a place of great 
wealth ; yet it is one of great moral worth, and great comfort, one where 
neighbor loves neighbor, where fraternal feelings largely prevail. We 
often boast and with much truth, that there is no community of our popu- 
lation where the people are better clothed, fed and housed, than in Ports- 
mouth, and we boast of sending out as many from our homes, who have 
distinguished themselves in all the various vocations of life, and have done 
honor, not only to their native town, but to our country at large, as any 
other portion of the State ; and no State of this Union can make claim to 
sending abroad in our country more distinguished men, than New Hamp- 
shire. 

Go where we may in this, our extended country, we find Portsmouth 
represented, and I am happy to say from experience and observation, there 
is no better passport, than to be known as a native of Portsmouth ; and I 
have ever found existing among her sons, a strong feeling of brother- 
hood. 

It is never asked of what family you are, or who your associates were, 
but it is sufficient that it be known that you are from old Portsmouth, to 
be received at once, as a brother and a friend; when the delightful remin- 
iscences of happy days spent at the old home, are called up, and inquiries 
for the prosperity and happiness of those left behind. 

Twenty years ago was inaugurated this beautiful idea, the returning 
of our sons to their native place. That was a glorious and memorable 



48 

gathering at old Strawberry Bank. While we miss many faces that 
cheered us on that bright occasion, we may all look forward to a grand 
reunion of the sons and daughters, those who were with us then and 
those who gather now, in that world where there shall be no more sepa- 
ration or sorrow or parting, but all shall be assembled as one brother- 
hood in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Again and again I say, 
welcome home, We all rejoice to see you at the old homestead. Come 
again ; come soon. 

The Master of Ceremonies. I see around me many of the friends of my 
youth, and among them one attracts my eye \v\\o, I remember in my early 
days, was very fond of the game of marbles. He was always very successful 
in the game, for he generally had a full bag himself, and I rather think 
that is one of the elements that belong to his character, for he has managed 
since to keep his purse pretty full, and his head pretty full of ideas. I 
refer to our Portsmouth boy, Samuel H. Gookin. [A voice — " He has just 
stepped out." ] In his absence, I will call on another star of our gal- 
axy to answer for himself, — B. P. Shillaber, or " Mrs. Partington." 

Mr. Shillaber was received with prolonged applause, and cries of " up, 
up," that all might see him ; to which he replied that it would be " all 
up" with him if he did. He then proceeded to read the following poem, 
in his own inimitable style, which was received with shouts of laughter and 
great applause. At its conclusion, he was very heartily cheered. 

Gleam, waves of swift Piscataqua, 

Sing, wooda on tranquil Kittery's side, 
Shout, Newington upon the Buy, 
Ye airs of "Greenland's icy," play. 
And Old Rye mingle with the tide ; 

Let "kettle to the trumpet speak, 
The trumpet to the cannonier ;" 
Ring, bells, whose tones o'er Walker's Creek, 
, Through distant vales, shall echoes seek, 

And bring them willing captives here, — 

For every heart is full to-day. 

And everything, in sweet accord, 
Must tributary Largesse pay. 
To recognize the genial sway 

Of Jot, the season's sovereign lord; 

Our good old mother spreads her arras. 

To welcome back her sons to-day, 
Who come from worldly strifes and harms, 
Responsive to tlie potent charms 

That still among them all hold sway. 

From scenes afar, with lengthened ranks, 

They to her side maternal lly ; 
Forget the early duteous spanks 
That fell in showers upon their flanks. 

When driven abroad their fate to try. 

No cause for murmuring at the fact ; 

'Twas Providence in kind disguise 
That sent them off to think and act. 
To cultivate the world's great tracr. 

And make men better and more wise. 

This is the mission every "sou" 

Is obligated to perform ; 
And, in tlie long decisive run. 
Invariably it is done. 

As all confess with feeling warm. 

The pulpit, law, the trades, the mart. 

The press and schools, where'er you search. 

Perform, It seems, a better part. 

With more efficiency and heart. 
When trade-marked by the Old North Church. 



49 



How widp they've scattered ! every land 
And every sea some one may show ; 

From Egypt's yellow glistening sand, 

To where the icy iioes expand, 
And the North Pole sticks through the snow. 

They take, of course, the foremost place, 

With modrsty that is not weak, 
And soon as seen a Portsmouth face, 
Contestants eease to urge the race, 

Awed into silence by its cheek. 

And bright the record that they show, 
In worth and manliness and "sich;" 
And every one as we well know, 
Succeeds from the first signal — Go I 
And all are virtuous and rich. 

Now "home again," but oh, how changed 
Each scene, beneath the flight of years ! 
The old-time scenery deranged, 
The good old neighborhoods estranged — 
Recalled through memory and tears. 

We scarce a single rood retrace, 

— The schools and play grounds disappeared — 
We strive "Old Cellar" to replace. 
We miss the Great Rock's honest face, 

The Willows" that our boyhood cheered. 

"Penhallow's field" has left no sign, 
And structures rise o'er former sites. 

Where eager boyhood watched the shine 

Of lightning from the cloudy line. 
O'er "Christian Shore" on Summer nights. 

And where are they, the loving ones, 

We left behind, when forth we came ? 
Dear, unambitious, homebred "Sons !" 
They've had th«ir "innings" and their"runs" 
And lung ago closed up the game. 

Yet here and there a form we meet, 
— Time-honored relics of the past — • 

With dimming eyes and lagging feet, 

Wlio our returning presence greet, 
Tried, true and faithfal to the last. 

The capillary ducts may dry. 

The nerves by age may be unstrung 

Passion no more may fire the eye : — 

But, though the faculties deny. 
The heart will evermore be young. 

I met Appollo here to-day, 

— As full of genius as an egg, — 
With music, art and verse in play. 
As actively as when away 

I went, my destiny to beg. 

'Twas Moses, not of Horeb fame. 

But gentle, tasteful Thomas P., 
Whose heart is lit with art's true flame, 
— Self-fed, the more to others' shame — 

A martyr to the Graces three. 



And here we meet 'neath native skiea. 
With soberness and gladness blent ; 
And our old mother's kindly eyes 
Have looked to all our small supplies, 
On hospitality in tb^t. 

God bless her — bless us every one ! 

Give pleasure unrestricted power. 
And every daughter, every son, 
When care again the field hath won. 

Shall breathe a blessing on this hour. 



50 



The harp that twf nty yeare ago 

Made some pretence to Ivric fire, 
Now halts aud slackens in its flow, 
Like turgid treacle running slow, 
And is at best a feeble lyre. 

Yet while its chorda can sound a strain, 

If not so musical and grand. 
'Twill true to tliis sweet thought remain 
That brings us, children, home again, 
Beside our mother's knee to stand. 

But, grandest trait of those who roam : 

Their "hearts untravelled" here have rest ; 
E'en though the hair, like ocean foam, 
Circleth the base of thought's high dome, 
They ne'er forget their natal nest. 

The "lean and slippery pantaloon," 

Who "pipes and whistles," minus teeth, 
feels his whole heart with .joy attune, 
And all ths fires of life's young June 
Glowing with ardor underneath. 

'Twixt farthest Indus and the Pole, 

Climb heights, remote from human tread, 

Tou'll find cut on that lofty scroll. 

Borne name, familiar to your soul, 
Carved on the old time Fountain Head.* 

One I remember years aback, 

— Friend and companion of my youth, — 
Who early was compelled to pack, 
Because police was on his track. 

For simple error and untruth. 

I heard from him — south, west and east, — 

At last as being in Fejee, 
Tatooed and feathered, sheared and greased. 

Presiding o'er a local feast 

Among the islands of the sea. 

Another, too, of grotesque mein. 

Who mixed with ns in boyhood's days. 
Lacking the lively " pistareen," 
Put out from liome, two days between, 
And vanished from the scene away. 

He for awhile from sight was Inst, 

When an exploring sailor man 
Saw him cross-legged, upon a post. 
The admiration of a host — 

A heathen god in Hindostan. 

*Bo when Bill Gibson disappeared, 

— That ne'er-do-well, the neighbors' tease— 
For whom a fatal end was feared. 
By that contrivance, looped and geared. 

That settles grave delinquencies, — 

After long years had passed avray, 
A traveller beneath Turkish skies. 

Saw clad in gorgeous array. 

With seivauts rich in livery gay, 
A form that filled him with surprise. 

'Twas Bill, whom fate had hither cast. 

That his astonished vision saw, 
Fanned ly four Sudras as he passed. 
With money and importance vast, 

A real seven-tailed bashaw. 

So Portsmouth girls in marriage hide, 

— Foriiotten or unknown their sphere-^ 
But strong and true the tender pride 
Which draws them to the river side, 
And here again they re-appear. 



•"Portsmouth Water Works. 



51 

Ever to Portsmoutl\ instincts true, 

We find, what time like this imparts, 
That, like the old 'dame of the shoe,' 
They duty's line have kept in view. 

And in their sphere reigned Queens of Hearts. 

If lady'ri, or if humbler role 

They're called to, you may bet your life 
That in the atmosphere of soul, 
Where the domestic j^ods control, 

No discount's asked for them as wife. 

We fain would kiss sweet Mary Ann, 

As erst we did in early youth. 
But wholly modify our plan 
As we behold that other max 

And fear to risk our only tooth. 

Why all don't marry 'we might quiz, 

But if for lack of love or pelf. 
That is th^irown especial ''biz;'' 
We only know that what is, is. 

And each knows how it is herself. 

The Master of Ceremonies. I will call upon our distinguished son, so 
recently adopted as a son of Boston, Hon. Ezra A. Stevens. 

ADDRESS OF HON. E. A. STEVENS 

Mr. President: — My voice has been heard so often lately, and there are 
30 many others to speak, that I shall beg to be excused in a very few mo- 
ments. I want you to understand one thing, that I have been perfectly 
satisfied with the length of the route, the collation, and every tiling else. It 
has often been said that Portsmouth la a good place to emigrate from, but 
in the presence of my old friends and schoolmates, I want to say a word 
about it as being a good place to live in. I have tried both places, and I 
assure you that Portsmouth is a good place to live in. I see before me the 
venerable man who indorsed my Urst note. [Cries — "Name him."] Why 
should I name him ? Is there anybody here that does no*" know that it 
was Ichabod Goodwin? (Loud applause.) And the same act of kindness 
that he performed for me, he has performed for many a Portsmouth boy. 

A gentleman told me a little incident, coming up from the cars, which i 
think you ought to know. You people who live at home do not begin to 
know the feelings of those who have gone from home, nor how long it 
takes a Portsmouth boy or girl to forget the place of their birth. There is 
living in Boston a very venerable gentleman, Hon, William E. Eusti3, 
known, no doubt, to a great many of the older people here. He desired 
very much to come down here, but he was unable to come, by reason of hia 
feeble health. He met a son of Portsmouth in Boston, and said, " I want 
you to tell my Portsmouth friends, that I wish very much to be there, but 
I cannot, on account of my health ; and I want you to tell my younger 
brothers that nobody knows how long it takes to forget old Portsmouth. 
Tell them it takes more than 64 years, for I have been gone from there b4 
years, and I love her still." (Applause.) 

Now, I hope, sir, you will call upon Mr. Albert T. Sise, and about 
fifty others, who are waiting to speak. 

The Master of Ceremonies. We want to hear from Charles L. Wood- 
bury, one of the distinguished sons of Portsmouth. 

ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES LEVI WOODBURY. 

I do not know whether the sons of Portsmouth will have a chance to 
hear my voice, for, judging from the movement that is taking place out- 
side, there is going to be a sort of vocal contest between the thunder and 
me If they will fetch on the thunder, and limit it to five minutes, I will 
bet that I will beat it, in honor of old Portsmouth ! (Laughter.) The fact 
of the matter is, I feel, upon the Fourth of July, standing upon my native 



52 

Roil. with the thunder growling around me, some what as that Star-Islander 
felt in that great gust last Fourth of July, when he got outside of the Fort 
light, on his way home with about two gallons inside. When he saw the 
gust coming, he said, " No Star-Islander was ever known to lower a sail, 
put back, or start a sheet on the Fourth of July, on account of a storm." 
He stuck it out, and with his whale boat half full of water arrived safely 
at Star- Island, and I hope I shall arrive safely at the end of my speech, in 
spite of the thunder. (Applause.) 

I had an intimation that I was expected to say something, and the com- 
mittee very wisely left me to take my choice of topics ; but the topic I 
should first choose, my brother Fields has discoursed upon so fully, so pa- 
thetically, and, I may say, so morally, (for he intimated to the ladies that 
he had a wife at home,) that I feel that there is nothing left for me to say, 
except to caution them to- beware of that silvery tongued young man, 
and to remind them that I am still a candidate for the matrimonial honors 
which he has already won. (Great merriment.) 

I was struck with the remarks of the President of the Boston delegation 
upon some historical subjects connected with the settlement of this town. 
You know that for many years the dilettanti historians of Europe and 
o. various parts of the United States and of North America, have been put- 
ting forward the claims of their favorite locations as being the original 
sites of the first European settlers upon this continent. Spaniards, French- 
men, Virsinians, Maine-iacs and Plymouth-rock-ians, have all come for- 
ward holding up their different blarney-stones for tlie admiration of the 
forty-eight millions of people in the United States of America. (Laugh- 
ter.) But, gentlemen, what are they all compared with Portsmouth ? (Re- 
newed merriment.) Why, their history begins when Portsmouth had al- 
most ceased to be a civilized place, and took to agriculture. (Loud laugh- 
ter.) Some of them only began to grow about the time rum ceased to be 
the normal currency of this old settlement. (Continued merriment.) Those 
good colonial days, when every workman took his jug on Saturday night 
to his employer, who filled it with rum, and the man stopped at the grocery 
store on his way home, and traded oft' his rum for the necessaries for his wife 
and children, and returned with the empty jug, were just passing out of 
existence, when Boston, and Salem, and such modern establishments, first 
took up the little tin trumpet and commenced to blow for themselves as 
something big from the glacial epoch. Why Mr. President, that now vil- 
lified but patriotic currency performed the heroic task of saving our 
country from the British yoke. What New Hampshire man does not re- 
call the fact that Gov. Langdon, our townsman, in that moment of su[ireme 
doubt when the fortune of the revolution seemed failing, gave thirty hofis- 
heads of Tobago rum to raise and equip that army of Gen. Stark with which 
the Hessians were beaten at Bennington, routed, and Burgoyne's last 
chance of victory extinguished. May we not be excused under this flag on 
this da}' for remembering the Governor and his Tobago rum? (Laughter 
and applause.) Now, Portsmouth has not been in the habit of writing his- 
tory ; she has been in the more distinguished habit of 7naking history. If 
we wear strawberry leaves upon our badges, it is not that some feudal 
king has undertaken to dignify us with a title, but by the divine right of 
our own birth, because, through the good judgment of our parents, we 
were born here on old " Strawberry Bank," and have a right to wear that 
emblem. (Applause.) And I tell you that the record which has been 
given to it, and the record that these young men about me are writing up- 
on the history of this world, will be a prouder decoration, and give a bright- 
er fame to those strawberry leaves, in coming times, than all the patents of 
all the kings that ever sat on the British throne, from the time of King 
Canute down to her ladyship who now holds power tin re. (Applause.) 

I thought, as our friend Dr. Peabody was sjieaking, that the poetry, the 
history, and the literature of old Portsmouth, were receiving that deserved 



53 

and worthy commendation whicli belongs to its dignity ; but the bar was 
not spoken of ; the politicians, the statesioeii, I may say, of old Portsmouth, 
were not spoken of; and yet, for two hundred years, we had the exclusive 
control of the statesmanship of New Hampshire, and very good statesman- 
ship we showed. We do not require now to be reminded of those old times. 
I do not know but a hundred Governors, since R. Gorges first landed at 
Odiorne's Point, where, as the first Governor of all New England, Boston 
and Plymouth included, he made his headquarters and administered the 
oaths of ofiice to his councillors, of whom was tlia Governor of Plymouth 
colony, and that same Mr. Thompson of Portsmouth whom j'oar banners 
to-day honor as the first settler of Boston. All our numerous Goveru(jrs 
have been our bo.ist and our pride ; yoar flonor [Ex-Governor Goodwin] 
one of the last and one of the most respected. (Here the Gov. G. bowed.) 
Yes, Sir, 1 know I would not come down and stamp against you, although 
1 was of different politics. 

Gov. Goodwin. I recollect you would not, and I thank you for it. 

Mr. WooDBtJET. But there is a secret about the practical preeminence 
of Portsmouth. There is, you know, according to Darwin and Agassiz, 
and other great naturalists and physiologists, an intimate relation between 
the intellect and the stomach, that ties the two together in a close synjpa- 
thy, and good eating is a part of good thinking. Now the Pilgrims, who 
landed at Plymouth, discovered there the clam banks of New England, and 
they sustained their high developments of Puritan inety by aid of the clam 
banks that you will see any time in Plymouth harbor. We have to thank 
the Pilgrims for clams. But Portsmoath stands back upon her chowder ; 
and she not only stands upon her chowder, but she points to what her 
chowder has done, and says, "Behold how I take children and make men 
of them!" I took Daniel Webster, when he came down from the mountains 
of New Hampshire, with the ruiliments of education, gathered at Dart- 
mouth College, and settled here in Portsmouth as a young lawyer, among 
men who were merchants and traders, among men w.:o were the ship- 
wrights and architects for the commerce of the world; and here he was 
taught how to make a chowder ! He took to it kindly. The chowder 
worked upon that native intellect, which had the capacity to be some- 
thing in big places, and we sent him forth a giant. Behold how he towers 
in history ! (Loud applause.) If you claim for Gapt. and j\lrs. Webstersoine 
part of that great eminence, allow to the Portsmouth chowder, and tlie 
skill he acquired in chowder making, the credit for the development and 
final culmination of the whole brightness and breadth of the statesman. 
I recollect, though but a boy' — not quite back to those times, but not tar 
after those times, ^the competition that existed for the first prize in chow- 
der making. I can recollect the way in which my own father, who dearly 
loved the chowder, up the river, and down by Fishing Island, would take 
his knife and try a potato, to see if the chowder was properly done. I 
can remember old Col. Bartlett, another of your eminent lawyers, how he, 
too, delighted in the chowder. And that stalwart old merchant. Major 
Larkin, whose chowder was expected to excel them all! Tliere was a gen- 
erous rivalry between the lawyers and merchants of Portsmouth — the 
chowder-eatmg lawyers, and Madeira drinking merchants, astute lawyers, 
like Cutts and Mason, giving an impartial preference to both! It was 
the rich, racy old Madeira that the 8heafes, tlie Langdons, the SuUivans, 
the Whipples and the Mannings planned the great struggles of the Revo- 
lution upon, fought the iievolution upon, and enjoyed after it was over. 
They had no taste for your rain-water Madeiras. They had no fondness 
for claret, sir. Their mighty souls went back to the good old "•Sercial" 
the generous " South-side," on which the Havens, the Lymans, Sherburnes, 
Pierces, Wentworths, and Whipples had refreshed their weary souls on the 
road to wealth; and we remember how, inspired by their example, some 
of the proudest luerchanis that were ever born in Portsmouth, or iu her 



54 

neighborhood — the Marches — emigrated to that classic island, and remain- 
ed there, devoted to the culture of Madeira, until their death ; would that 
we had some of it now! (Laughter and applause.) 

But I remember that there is a five minutes' rule. I have talked time 
and the thunder out, and I am afraid I shall talk the audience out, too. 

We thank you, we emigrants thank you, citizens of Portsmouth, for 
this kind invitation which has brought us back again. Our hearts have 
been with you all the time. There is something about old Portsmouth 
that does tie itself to the heart, and from which neither time., nor travel, 
nor foreign ways can wean us — we come back ever and forever. You 
planned this institution somehow amongst you, twenty years ago; you 
have planted it as one of the institutions of the country, and in the fu- 
ture, as in the jiast, such celebrations as these will continue, and the ties 
that bind brethren and kindred and townspeople together, those ties 
which are stronger than water, which are like the ties of blood, and the 
ties of maternal and paternal affection, will continue from generation to 
generation, in this great, new law of humanity, which is the creed of the 
present age, brighter, broader and stronger, in the example that you have 
set, m extending to all born between Christian shore, and South End be- 
tween Gravelly Pudge, and Liberty Bridge, and Sagamore Creek — an invi- 
tation to come together, on this patriotic day, leaving all our little quar- 
rels behind, in a strong, heartfelt, deep, equal and thorough friendsliip. 

Mr. Albekt F. Sise was then called upon, and spoke as follows : 

I think the best speech I can make is to advise e'very one to go home. I 
will say only one or two words, and then I think it will be well, perhaps, 
to seek shelter. 

A good deal has been said to-day about the last celebration,' but mj- 
mind has looked forward to twenty years from now. How will it be then ? 
And as one of the speakers referred to the next celebration, I thought, will 
not all be changed then ? Will not the fair daughters of Portsmouth walk 
in procession while we men stand in solid phalanx and cheer them ? 
(Laughter and applause.) 

A great deal has been said in Boston about the fronts of buildings. I 
have got one idea down here to-day in regard to the fronts of buildings, 
which I think is a very bright one, and I will communicate it, and I think 
that is all I can say. As I passed by the old Academy, 1 saw that they 
had got there a new sort of front, and it struck me that it was one of the 
handsomest I ever saw. And those of you who passed it, and saw tiers of 
school girls stretching up to the second story I know will respond heartily 
when I give you — "The Portsmouth front for buildings." (Applause.) 

The proceedings at the tent were here brought rather abruptly to a 
close, ill consequence of the violent thunder-^torm raging outside. The 
addresses were agreeably interspersed with appropriate music from the 
three fine bands in attendance, and the occasion was one long to be re- 
membered by every son and daughter of Portsmoutli, and, indeed, by 
every one who had the good fortune to be present. 

THE VETERAN OF THE REUNION. 

The oldest member of the Boston delegation of Sons — and doubtless the 
oldest visitor in tliis city on tliis occasion, was Mr. Charles Tappan, 89 
years of age. He marched a mile or more of the route of the ])rocession, 
leaving it only at the solicitation of friends, and afterwards walked to the 
tent on Wibird's Hill. Mr. Tappan was a native of Northampton, Mass., 
and is the last surviving brother of a large and prominent famiiy, of whom 
Mr Lewis Tappan, recently deceased in New York, and Arthur, the fa- 
mous reformers, were members. Mr. Charles Tappan worked at the print- 
ing business when young, in Worcester, Mass., with Mr. Thomas, a son of 
the famous Isaiah Thomas, who (the son) had learned the trade in this city. 



55 

Mr. Thomas in 1806 established a book-store in Portsmouth with Mr. 
Tappan, under the firm of Thomas and Tappan, the latter being in charge. 
Their store was on the corner of Market and Daniel Streets, now occupied 
by Mr. Wm. B. Lowd. Their beautiful gilt script sign on black ground, 
painted in Worcester, in 1806, has been well preserved in the attic of John 
W. and Joseph H. Foster, their successors, to this day, and is still pointed 
at with admiration by Mr. Tappan as an elegant specimen of sign paint- 
ing. It was dated 1806, and re-raised on pretty nearly its original site, 
during the late celebration, and formed one of the most interesting decora- 
tions of the times. Mr. Tappan was a resident of Portsmouth, for many 
years, and published several large volumes here, with his other business. 

The following letter and accompanying poem was received too late to be 
read at the tent, and we therefore give it place here. 

Trenton Cottage, New Jersey, July 2d, 1873. 
His Excellency Ichabod Goodwin, 

Ex-Gov of New Hampshire : 

My esteemed Friend, I doubt not, in this velocipede and postal card 
age, this epistle from one of your early friends will be a surprise to you, 
if not a disappointment. The current events of more than half a century 
have made marked changes in our situation, but I trust not in our feel- 
ings. Whilst our friend Mr. Saml. Lord and others have gone before us, 
we still live and like Mr. Webster seem to want to learn how to die. For 
myself I am still vigourous, and although very old, with sight and hear- 
ing impaired, and too cumbersome to travel far without a helper to guide 
me, yet I am comparatively well, cheerful and grateful. The fairest flow- 
ers they say fade soonest. The Scotch daisy (our white weed) never dies, 
according to the poet Montgomery. Is not New-Hampshire the Scot- 
land of this country. I wish we had some B-epublican baronet, a minstrel 
who like Sir Walter Scott could do justice to your great celebration on 
the -Ith instant. 

By the way, I had like to have forgotten this, as I was myself a for- 
gotten son of my native state. But, with your Excellency's permission, 
I will enclose you a few verses hastily written, which may answer some 
purpose at the eleventh hour of your day's work. You and your friends 
must remember, however, they are written by one who is nearing his 87th 
year, who was free born before any one of the National or State Consti- 
tutions were matured and although somewhat known m New Jersey, has 
been too long an absentee from his native town to know much about it. 
But here an old Federalist of the Washington School unabridged, I try 
to keep the fires in history still burning and whilst respecting all true 
patriots of whatever stripe and trying to forget and forgive those who 
maligned the Saviour of our Country and other true patriots in the olden 
time, I shall be one of the old guard, who can die but will never suren- 
der to th-e enemy. 

And now, my dear old friend, make what use of this letter and its en- 
closed offering you think proper, and believe me ever, 

With sincere respect, 
/ Yours truly, 

C. 0. Haven. 

THE OLD GRANITE STATE. 

SONG. (Tune, " Anacreon in Heaven.") 

For the Celebration at Portsmouth, New Hampshirp, of tUe first Settlement of thf Colony 
there, and of the Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States in 
connection tlierewith, July 4, 1873. 

By C. C. Haven, aged 86 years. 

When the Sun's orient lis;ht o'er the Atlantic sea beamed, 
£1;^ Aurora hath scatter'd the chill mists of the raoru — 



56 

And ou Washington's Mount his beacon rays gleamod, 
The young Sons of Portsmouth then welcomed the dawn. 

'Tis their State's festive morn. 

And wliere Freedom was born ! 
And gay flags wave triumphant, in the Union's cause worn, 
Chords. 

And as long as her mountains greet her sons on the sea, 

Let the Granite State prosper and our country be free ! 

Perserering old Time, with his grey locks bihind, 
Though still fresh in his fore-front and up with the season. 
Owns the like of this greeting is not easy to find, 
'Tis the feast of the soul and the triumph of reason. 

From all parts of the land. 

Here the brotherhood stand, 
■Whilst past, present and future unite hand in hand. 
Chorus. 

Here guests from the mountain and ocean we see, 
■yVhere the Granite State smiles and the country is free ! 

■When Piscataqua's stream was explored by our sires. 

O'er whose deep, rapid current few mortals have trod, 

Where the fierce savage prowl'd, with his war whoop and fires. 

There now stand Christian temples free to worship the true God. 

And where Strawberry Bank stood. 

Once embosomed with wood, 
Happy " summer guests" cluster, by sea breezes wooed. 
Chorus. 

When the White hills and blue Ocean each other can see, 

There the Granite State smiles and our country is free ! 

Let the fame of New Hampshire still be echoed in story, 
Though she boasts not of lands or mines of pure gold, 
Nor of millionaire Rings ambitions of glory, 
Nor of Tammany swindlers, to be bought and be sold ; 

But in deeds of true worth. 

From the time of her birth, 
She yields up her prestige to no State on the earth. 
Chorus. 

Let her fame then extend o'er the land and the sea, 

Whilst her State shall be prospered and our country be free I 

Of Mason and Dudley and the Wentworths' proud reign, 
Of the patriots who fought and secured freedom's cause. 
Of our country's late heroes who its life did sustain, 
Of our statesmen and Webster, foremost friend of our laws. 

Any nation might boast! — 

But we'll end with a toast ; 
Let her sons match those sires who have thus far done most. 
Chords. 

And as long as our empire unites sea to sea. 

May the Granite State prosper and our people be free ! 

Trenton, New Jersey, July, 1873. 

The following is an abstract of remarks from Dr. Joseph Cheever of 
Boston, who, in common with others, was prevented from speaking in 
consequence of the abrupt termination of the meeting on account of the 
shower. 

"In meeting with you on this interesting occasion, the mind reverts back, 
reviving with tender and soul subduing influence, the memory of past 
scenes of pleasure which open before us and quickening the highest emo- 
tions of the soul. 

Your lofty trees, adjacent groves, and running streams, that have wit- 
nessed the sporting and pleasures of our youthful days, rise before the 
imagination, arrayed in all their beauty and grandeur. 

We love to gaze upon and drink in from the many beauties of nature 
around us, to inhale the sweet odors and gentle zephyrs that bring health 
upon their wings ; be where we may ; but none of them equals the charms 
and enchantments of our native home. 



67 

The music of nature, in her myriad voices that sound so sweetly at 
all times, makes a more lovely peal to me, while in old Portsmouth, than 
at any other spot upon which I ever moved. 

And as I bring to mind some of the interesting reminisences of our an- 
cient town, events that have been resurrected and brought to light by 
that truthful and persevering Brewster, who rambled about Portsmouth, 
gleaning the cream of its past history which is now so richly presented 
before us;-— whose pure spirit has since passed on for infinite uses, and 
eternal benefits; I say, when I think of the events and ponder over those 
books of books, the "Rambles about Portsmouth'' they have so intensified 
my love for native home, that my liighest hopes now are that I may close 
my days near the shadow of its trees, or upon the banks of its running 
streams that I love so well. 

For a sentiment I will propose, — 

Our native town, the dear old mother of us all, within whose bosom re- 
pose the slumbering ashes of loved ones gone before, for her will my 
breast glow with emotion while the heart is quickened with life. 

The following sentiment was by Dr. John Cheever, of Charlestown, Mass. 

The Home of our Childhood, sanctified by the hallowed influence of 
our mothers ; may the memory of their enduring virtues be forever en- 
shrined within our heart's tenderest and holiest atfections, 

REGATTA. 

Regardless of the threatening weather thousands of spectators gathered 
upon every available spot to witness the Regatta. Long before the start- 
ing of the boats the rain descended and a dense fog prevailed which hid 
everything from view and many of the contestants lost their reckoning in 
consequence. Now and then the gloomy canopy would be lifted, reveal- 
ing the crews in their white shirts anxious to hear the signal for them to 
take their positions. It was useless to think of a postponement, for that 
would be the end of the regatta, so the boom of the cannon was heard even 
above the furious onslaughts of heaven's artillery. 

Before the races were ended, however, the elements exhausted them- 
selves, the sun came out, and cast a glorious halo of colors on the sky and 
sea, forming a grand transformation scene. Below we give the official re- 
sult of the races: — In the 12-oared race "Uncle Abe" was withdrawn in a 
leaky condition. The " Edith " and " Joe Hooker" started out in the fog 
and disappeared from the sight of Judges and spectators. The Edith had 
the advantage of an eddy and turned the beacon first. On the race home- 
ward the Hooker overhauled and passed the Edith, winning the first prize 
of $40 in 10 minutes and 50 seconds, the Edith being five seconds be- 
hind. 

By this time, a heavy thunder storm set in, but the 10-oared boats Wy- 
oming and Infant Sculpin came into line and had a good start. The Wy- 
oming was the winner in 12 minutes and thirty-seven seconds, the Infant 
being five seconds later. Prize $40. 

In the naval race, three boats started. The Commodore's barge came in 
first in 12.50, but was ruled out for not pulling over the course as directed. 
The Plymouth's gig was declared the winner in 13.20. Purse $40. This 
race was the only one seen by the spectators or judges. The tub race was 
finally abandoned, owing to the state of the weather. The scull race was 
also abandoned because of the failure of the boats to come to time. The 
judges were Capt. Thomas H. Eastman, Assistant Constructor Philip Hich- 
born, John Dame and Timothy Dame, the two first being stationed on the 
judges' stand off Concord railroad wharf, and the latter on the stone bea- 
con near Pierce's Island. Much credit is due Messrs. Dow, Locke and 
Norton for the amount of labor they performed to perfect this part of the 
programme. 



58 
FIREWORKS. 

Owing to the storm on the previous afternoon the display of fireworks 
was postponed until Saturday night, w'len they were let off on Market 
Square before a crowd of people estimated at about seven thousand. The 
pyrotechnics did not give out the glory usual in such exhibitions, still the 
crowd applauded every piece. The con.luding work was composed of col- 
ored fires, enclosing scroll-work in which was thesentence, "Welcome, Sons 
and Daughters of Portsmouth" — the whole forming a brilliant spectacle. 
It was ten o'clock before the fireworks were finished, and even then the 
assemblage seemed loth to retire from the S<]^uare, until it was learned that 
the remaining two hours would be given to a 

SERENADE TO OUR VISITORS. 

For this occasion the Marine Band was engaged, and proceeding to the 
Rockingham House it was found to be brilliantly lighted by chmese lan- 
terns. These with the other elaborate decorations formed a grand scene. 
The crowd in front of this fine hotel seemed to increase as the hours neared 
midnight, and the repeated applause they gave showed that the music of 
the U. S. Alarine Band, was of a superior order, and rendered in good 
taste. 

THE HOME COMING. 

Rev. Carlos Martyn preached an appropriate sermon, Sabbath morn- 
ing, June 29th, in the North Church, and in the afternoon in the Metho- 
dist Church, to large audiences, under the above caption, from Gen. XLiii. 
16 ; " Bring these men home." We give below the first half of the dis- 
course, which will be found of general interest. Mr. M. said : Joseph's 
brethren, sore pressed by famine, had come down from Canaan to buy 
corn in Egypt. Benjamin was with them as, now for the second time, 
they stood in the presence of that brother from whom they had parted 
years before. With a full heart and a wet eye, Joseph turned to the 
ruler of his house and said : " Bring these men home. " 

Now, for weeks, friends, we have been uttering similar words here in 
Portsmouth. Remembering the dear ones who long ago left our unfur- 
gotten and unforgetling ruofs, we have said: " Bring these men home." 
Some have come. Otliers will come this week. And so, taking a hint 
from the approaching Jubilee, I will speak to you to-day of the home- 
coming of next Friday. 

The words of the text are the motto of the hour, " Bring these men 
home, " You remember the cordial and wide-spread response whicti 
met this suggestion, when, months ago, it voiced itself. We have all 
marked from day to day the growth of th#project. The notices in the 
outside press calling upon the sons to organize; the meetings held as a 
result; our own local preparations, manifested in the smoothing of our 
streets, in the painting of our houses, in the busy hum of nightly gath- 
ered committees, in the sending forth of mail bags stufl'ed with urgent in- 
vitations to the ends of the earth, in the drum beat of drilling military 
companies — where is the person, however deaf and dumb and blind, who 
has not heard and talked about and seen all this? 

It is now fifty years since the first such like celebration occurred. In 
1823 there was a somewhat similar gathering. Away back there, when 
Monroe was President, and the war of 1812 was as tri-sh in men's minds 
as the war of the i-ebellion is in ours, and when Winfield Scott and Gen. 
Jackson were the heroes of the hour, as Ulysses Grant and Gen. Sherman 
are to-day, and when Woodbury and Mason were the local celebrities, the 
absent sons and daughters of Portsmouth thronged back into these dear old 
streets, with Daniel Webster at their head, to celebrate the two hundredth 
anniversary of the settlement of Strawberry Bank. The memory of that 



59 

occasion abides with us as an inspiring tradition, although most of the ac- 
tors in the scene have gone "to their long home." 

And again, thirty years later in IS53, there was another homecoming, 
hardly second to that noted first one, of which Mrs. Partington was the 
originator. And now for the third time, on the 4th inst., we are once 
more to enliven our steeets and gladden our hearts with the dear absen- 
tees. For the proclamation has gone forth: "Bring these men home." 

And now, as aforetime, the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth re.sident 
abroad, will come back to a spot which will amply repay a visit. We can 
boast with St. Paul, that we ar« " citizens of no mean city." When 
Washington was here, in 1789, — the very evening of the 18th century, he 
made a public adilress commencing in these words: "Fellow citizens of 
the commercial metropolis of New Hampshire." Portsmouth was not 
very large when it was thus addressed ; and since then we have only a 
little more than doubled our population. But then, proverbially, Nature 
does up her choicest articles m small packages. We judge by quality, 
not by quantity. Attica was small — only forty-four miles long and 
thirty-four miles wide. But with Athens in the midst, it lassoed the an- 
cient world, body and soul, to its all-conquering feet, by the strength of 
its right arm and the genius of its culture. The Hollanders first scooped 
their country out of mud and water, and then standing on piles, called 
modern commerce into being. England, as Wendell Phillips has re- 
minded us, with territory just wide enough to keep its eastern and west- 
ern harbors apart, monopolized, for centuries, tlie trade of the world, and 
annexed continents only as coffers wherein to garner its wealth. There is 
no need, therefore, that Portsmouth should be great in size in order to be 
famous and influential. 

I know of no other locality which combines so much both of natural 
and historic interest. Where can you find more to attract the "eye and 
instruct the heart? Our natural advantages are unsurpassed. The city, 
like the ancient Jerusalem, is " beautiful for situation." Yonder rolls 
the ocean. Here at our side is the charming Piscataqua, — as our home 
poet, Laighton, has phrased it : 

" Singing a 8ong as it flows along. 

Hushed by the ice-king never; 
For he strives in vain to clasp a chain 

O'er thy fetterless heart, brave river ! " 

The ocean and the river form a perpetual board of health, always in 
session. They keep the air pure, and barricade out of our streets " the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction tliat wasteth at 
noon-day." 

And then the surrounding country, — how varied and beautiful ! Roads 
radiating hence in every direction, ^hard and smooth as the floors of our 
houses, lead away through fertile meadows carpeted with greensward, and 
figured with butter-cups and daisies. Industry and plenty walk hand in 
hand in the foreground, while misty mountains form the background of 
the landscape. 

Place one point of a pair of compasses here on Market Square and 
sweep the other point around a circuit of fifteen miles, and what a wealth 
of scenery is taken in. The spindles of Newmarket and the educational 
advantages of delightful Exeter, in the interior ; and, along the shore, or 
near it, Hampton beach, Little Boar's head. Rye beach; quaint New Cas- 
tle, which looks as though it had sat to Goldsmith when he painted his 
portrait of the " Deserted Village; " the lomantic Isles of Shoals, Kittery 
Point, York beach, — all more or less noted scenes and favorite haunts of 
the appreciative tourist. 

Nor are historic landmarks lacking. Yonder, on the opposite side of 
the river, is York, once known as the city of Gorgeana, founded in 1641, 
in the seventeenth year of Charles the First, who afterwards lost his 



60 

head at Whitehall, by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, a favorite of the unhappy 
king, whose grant of incorporation wa* the first given to any American 
settlement. iStill nearer is Kittery, full of historic interest, where stands 
the old Pepperell mansion, a portion of which remains now as it was in 
colonial days, when the baronet was its tenant. 

Crossing into Portsmouth, over the straggling old bridge, we come 
upon the old Stavers tavern there on Court Street. Just off- of Water 
street is the house where Washington tarried. On the corner of Wash- 
ington and Pleasant streets, still stands the old house where for many 
years in the last century, the New Hampshire Gazette was edited and 
printed, the first newspaper in ttie Siate, and now the oldest paper in 
this country. At the west end is Frenchman's Lane, with its tragic asso- 
ciation. Still further west is Breakfast Plill, the scene of an Indian con- 
flict. Here at the gateway of the river, the old fort still mounts guard, 
and acts the sentinel as it did in the old French war, — a time-worn vet- 
eran in the service, and fitly garrisoned by the oldest soldier on Uncle 
Sam's muster roll. Out towards Odiorne's Point, the spot where the first 
settlers landed in 1623, is the famous home of the sometime Governor of 
the Province, the Wentworth house, which Longfellow has daintily 
described : 

" A pleasant mansion, an abode 

Nt';ir and yet hidden from the great highroad, 

Sequestired among trees, a noble pile, 

Baronial and colonial in its style. 

Gables and dormer windows everywhere. 

And stacks ot cliimneys rising high in air, — 

Piindivan pipes on wliicli all winds that blew 

Made ludunilul music tlie whole winter through. 

Within uuniimbcrfd splendors met the eye, 

Panels, and floors ot oak, and tapi-stry ; 

Carved chimney-pieces where on brazen dogs 

Revelled and roared the Christmas fire of logs. 

Doors opening into darkness unawares, 

Mysterious passages and flights of stiiirs, 

And on the walls in heavy gilded frames, 

Tlie ancestral Wentworths with old Scripture names." 

Surely, friends, if Portsmouth is not the hub of the universe, it is the 
hub of a good-sized wheel. Irreverent scoffers, of the Young America school, 
speak of it as a dead-alive place. This is a gross libel. I know of no 
other city of its size which is the centre of a more flourishing and diversi- 
fied trade, and wliere the merchants and work people are more intelligent 
and generally well-to-do. Here is a United States Navy Yard. Here are 
two daily and three weekly newspapers. Commercial interests, banking 
interests, railroad interests, manufacturing interests, religious interests, 
converge here. Upon this hub turns the wheel of an extensive outside 
district. Truly, it would be well for the country if more of its cities were 
dead-alive m the same healthy, active, progressive sense. We are not pre- 
sumptous therefore, when, looking over the union to find our absentees, we 
say : " Bring tliese men home." 

And home they are coming, to renew their youth and to re-acquaint 
themselves with the scenes of " Auld Lang Syne" But more attractive to 
them than beautiful landscapes or historic lucalities, or the haunts of trade, 
will be the old time residence, and the family mansion. I seem even now 
to hear them say, Here is the same old house. This is the room in which 
my cradle was rocked. In that apartment I was married, ten, twenty, 
thirty years ago. On that door-siU I used to sit and sing when a little 
child How often have I swung tliere on the gate. Up here under the 
roof I used to lie and listen to the foot- fall of the rain There is the brook 
I waded in. Yonder is the orchard with the dear old gnarly trees. Away 
there lie the woods where I went nutting in the autumn, and where, in 
the spring time I sought the wild mayfiowers. Everywhere, everywhere 
the landscape is suggestive and memory-ful. 



61 

Oh, the joy of the rfunion ! oh, the happiness of the hours when, hack 
from that oven, called Philadelphia, back from that furnace called New 
York, back from pent-up Boston, the Sons and daughters go rollicking 
over the house, and thumb out the long silent notes, from the astonished 
old piano, and invade attic precincts sacred to the bat, and ransack out. the 
family relics, and forage in the pantry, laughing and crying by hysterical 
turns to find themselves at home once more! 

But alas, what changes time has made. Alack, how many whom our 
longing eyes would gladly see and our aching hearts would rejoice to meet, 
are beyond our greeting and caresses. How sad the festival for those poor 
parents whose children cannot be with them on that day. How woeful 
the case of those whose home-coming shall find no father's welcome and no 
mother's kiss awaiting them. 

And ah ! how soon it will all be over. A day or two of musing or re- 
joicing. A few brief hours of reunion, and then " Good-bye and God bless 
you ! " spoken at the door, uttered at the car window, said brokenlj'-, 
tearfully at the steamboat wharf. Soon, nothing will be left of the home- 
coming of 1873 but a memory. This like the former reunion, will fade 
into a tradition. " For the fashion of this world passeth away." 

Mr. Martyn then went on to speak of this home-coming as a type of 
that eternal reunion which awaits the children of our heavenly father. 

On the following Sabbath, Rev. Mr. Martyn delivered another fine dis- 
course on the Reunion, from the text " Bless the Lord, my soul, and 
forget not all his benefits." Rev. Dr. Lamson of Brookline, who occupied 
the pulpit at the Middle Street church in the forenoon, preached an elo- 
quent discourse on " Our Father's house." Other city pastors made allu- 
sions to our jubilee. 



62 



HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. 

The reunion of the graduates and members of the High Schools of this 
city at the tent, on the afternoon of the 5th, was a complete success. The 
long procession of lady and gentlemen graduates, the complete arrange- 
ments at the tent, together with the varied literary and musical entertain- 
ments, combined to make the reunion one of the most interesting and pleas- 
ing features of the celebration. 

A brief sketch of the origin of the High School Association, may not 
prove uninteresting. In answer to a call made in February, 1870, eleven 
of themembers of the class which graduated from the Boys' High School in 
1864 assembled at the residence of one of the members and formed a class 
association. C. A. Hazlett was elected President, C. 0. Walker, Vice 
President, and Merrill Spalding, Secretary. The Association was formed 
for social and literary improvement and to perpetuate the acquaintances 
and friendships made while at school. It was also the intention to inter- 
est the members of other classes and whenever the opportunity presented to 
hold a reunion of the graduates of the High Schools. Each year the class 
had a river excursion and picnic, and at the annuil meetings and sup- 
pers the class was entertained with speeches and histories by the mem- 
Ders, and original poems by one of their teachers. 

In June last. Rev. E. A. Rand of South Boston wrote to the teachers 
of the High Schools, urging them to hold a reunion in July. Mr. Lewis 
E. Smith, the principal of the Boys' High School, left the arrangements 
principally with tlie members of the class of '64 Association in which he 
had always taken a deep and prominent interest. The Class at once pro- 
ceeded to form an Association of the members and graduates of the Boys' 
High School and elected C. A. Hazlett, Chairman, and Arthur W. Walker, 
Secretary. 

At the same time, Mr Aurin M. Payson, Principal of the Girls' High 
School formed an association of the members and graduates of that school 
and was chosen President of it. 

Each association completed its organization unaware of the movement 
on the part of the other, but as soon as acquainted with the fact a lively 
courtship was commenced and even the young ladies were not averse to 
showing their eagerness in joining hands and fortunes with the other or- 
ganization. The following marriage notice in the papers at this time indi- 
cate that the courtship was short and successful. 

"Mercantile Hall was filled again on Wednesday evening, June 18th, 
with the members and graduates of the High Schools. Tlie following list 
of officers was chosen : 

Fnsident, W. H. Y. Hackett. 

Vice-Fresldents, James T. Fields, Boston ; S. J. Nowell, New York ; 
Rev. E. A. Rand, So. Boston ; Mrs. C. C. Akerman, Portsmouth ; Miss 
Virginia Bufford, Portsmouth. 

Hec. Secretary^ Willis G. Myers. 

Cor. Secretaries, Miss Mary W. Harratt, Miss Louise B. Rand. 

Directors, C. A. Hazlett, C. 0. Walker, Geo. W. Marston, Miss Lizzie S. 
Pray, Miss Georgie Hill." 

The President obtained permission of the Citizen's General Committee 
to hold the reunion in the large tent. The whole management was placed 
in the hands of the Directors who worked early aad late during the limited 
time allowed them to perfect the arrangements. They appointed Geo. W. 
Marston, Master of Ceremonies at the tent; C. A. Hazlett, Chief Mar- 
shal ; Dr. James A. Spalding, Floor Manager ; and L. P. Broughton, Chief 



63 

Usher. The finance committee, consisting of Mr. Willie R. Foster, Mr. 
Geo. E. Hodgdon, Miss Edith Gerrisli, and Miss Mary Haley, secured the 
necessary funds by subscription. 

The procession was formed on the Parade ground and marched promptly 
at 2.30, in the following order: 

Platoon of Police. 

U. S. Marine Band. 

C. A. Hazlett, Chief Marshal ; Clarence 0. Walker, Albert H. Sides, 
Floron Barri and Moses H. Call, Aids. 

Present members of Girls' High School, A. M. Payson, Principal. 

Present members of Boys' High School, L. E. Smith, Principal, Stephen 
W. Chirk, Ass't. Hon. AV. H. Y. Hackett, James T. Fields, Esq., Geo. W. 
Marston, Esq., and other officers of the Association. 

Class of '64 Boys' High School, Taylor Goodrich, President. 

Graduates and former members residing in Boston. 
" " " New York. 

" " " other cities. 

At Richard's Avenue the procession was halted at the request of a num- 
ber of ladies who graduated from the "First Female School of Portsmoutli". 
about the year 1830. A delegation of thirty-five ladies joined the pro- 
cession with them and marched to the tent where seats had been reserved 
for them. 

The assembly was called to order in the tent, soon after three o'clock, by 
the President of the High School association, Hon. W. H. Y. Hackett, 
and the Divine benediction was invoked by Rev. Wm. G. Nowell, of 
Maiden. 

Graduates of the Portsmouth High Schools, — Sons and Daughters of Ports- 
mouth, — In behalf of the teachers, pupils and graduates of our High 
Schools, who have remained at the old homestead, I welcome you to the 
home of your childhood, to the scenes and associations of your school 
days, — to these streets, so often enlivened by your walk and voice — to this 
town, so full of pleasant memories, — to hearts throbbing v/ith schoolmate 
recollections and afi'ections. 

As you walk these streets, so familiar and I hope ? o dear, you will pass 
no dwelling by whose fireside your progress and success in life have not 
been discussed and enjoyed ; no home from which cordial welcomes, like 
the electric current over the wires, have not been passing to all portions of 
this country. For what state, what city, what town, is there in all this 
broad land, which has not felt the power of some son or the refining 
influence of some daughter of Portsmouth ? (Applause.) 

We give you a hearty and cordial welcome, because you are of our 
household, and because you have done so much to reflect credit upon tlie 
old homestead. You have enjoyed and profited by that system of univers- 
al education planned and commenced by our ancestors before they were 
able to provide comfortable dwellings for their families ; a system which 
has made New England the source and nursery of that culture and ex- 
panding influence which to-day are shaping the institutions and the 
destiny of the North American continent. 

Thus trained and thus fortified, you have gone from us to new duties 
and to new homes, in which you have done so much to make us proud as 
well as glad to see you. In the learned professions in art, literature and 
science, in all the departments of enterprise and business, and in all the 
relations of life, you have reflected honor upon yourselves and upon your 
town, and your schoolmates now greet you with a cordial and affectionate 
welcome. (Loud applause.) 

Music and song by the band. 

Mr. H. C. Baenabee. I think it will not be considered out of place if 
I ask this audience to give three cheers for " Harlow's Band," who, in the 



64 

musical exercises of yesterday and to-day have placed themselves in the 
verv front rank of musical exponents. 

This call was vociferouslv responded to by "the boys," and in milder 
measure by " the girls." The compliment was acknowledged by the band 
with a few strains of " the Nation's Anthem" — "Yankee Doodle." Then 
Mr. Frank W. Miller called for three cheers for the popular Barnabee, and 
again the tent rang with the shouts of the strong voiced and enthusiastic 
youth. 

The President. Ladies and Gentlemen: The object of this organization 
is the revival and the preservation of school-day associations and sympa- 
thies. When it was determined that the first public meeting of the asso- 
ciation should be coeval with the pleasant reunion we are now enjoying, 
we immediately felt the want of some one to speak for us, and we all, 
unanimously, instinctively turned to that distinguished townsman of ours, 
who has on so many occasions indicated his sympathy with Portsmouth 
and with its schools, who has done so much to widen and deepen the in- 
fluence of the best authors of Great Britain and the United States, and 
who himself has now become a distinguished author. You will now have 
the pleasure of hearing from Mr. James T. Fields, of Portsmouth, tempo- 
rarily sojourning in Boston. (Laughter.) 

Mr. Fields, on rising, was greeted with three hearty cheers, and read 
the following poem : 

Do I stand up and speak in a dream ? 

Are these the loved scenes I once knew ? 
Is that old Piscataqtia's stream. 

Rushing on to its ocean of blue? 

visions that never can fade! 
bells that will evermore ring ! 

trees that are never decayed ! 

birds that forever will sing ! 

Ye voices that call from the past — 

Ye hands that stretch out from the tomb, — 

Ye dead lips that spoke to us last — 
We think of you all without gloom ; 

For together we now meet again. 

And no bond of love ever dies. 
The links are unseen, but the chain 

Reaches down to the heart from the skies. 

Who tells us our beards have turned gray ? 

They are dyed with wild thyme, that is all; 
They are brown underneath, here to-day, 

And the gray washes ofl' at your call I 

Who says he's rheumatic and stiff — 

Tliat his eyes are beginning to fall? 
He is shamming it all, — in a whiff 

He forgets to be gouty or pale I 

Who dares to remind us of age ! 
We are all of us children again, — 

1 turn back the volume a page. 
And I vow I am only just ten ! 

My satchel is slung on my back, — 

1 am running according to rule, — 
The Old South is bidding me pack, 

Or I shall be too late for school. 

There are hurrying feet on the stairs. 

There are bright eyes that beam in the sua, 

And the master has ended the prayers, 
And the work of the day has begun. 



65 

I am conning my Virgil ;— that's cool !— 
My Virgil ! 'twas yours, my good friend,*— 

The copy you studied at school. 
And afterwards kept it to lend. 

Ah, Cajsar, and Virgil, alas ! 

AVhat ye gave me, how little I find ! 
Ah, great Viri Roma? ! ye pass, 

And leave not a foot-print behind. 

When T call up my Sallust, no voice 

To my earnest entreaty replies, 
Anil Horace, the bard of my choice. 

When I speak to him, instantly flies 1 

There were days when I lived with these men 
In yonder old room, full of dust ; — 

But their speeches, so fresh to nie then, 
Are speechless in mouths full of rust. 

Geometry I where are the charms 
That sages have seen in your face I 

Trigonometry ! great are the harms 
You conferred on a lad in this place I 

When I ran my young head In a noose, 
'T was a hypothenuse, I declare, — 

And little could frustrums produce 
In a brain that of figures was bare. 

All my angles were very obtnse, 

And quite circumscribed were my spheres ; 
My cosines were found of no use. 

And my polj-gons ended in tears. 

My tangents flew off' into space. 
On my solids no mortal could sup | 

My zones were a frigid disgrace, 
And my cube-roots would never come up I 

Like a binomial bore, I was found 

Unequal, and never could pass : 
Young Treat thought me thwu, I'll be bound, 

A small mathematical ass. 

For Sam had the head for a judge. 

And equations to him were mere play ; 

From the benches he never would budge, 
Till he bore all the prizes away. 

On this map of the Past I unroll. 

Those who taught us in youth are enshrined, 
And I reverently trace on the scroll 

The toil that was earnest and kind. 

And for nil our sins, obstinate days, 
Paper pellets, potato pop-guns, — 

For other most infamous ways 
That were practiced in school by the Sons ; 

For backslidings, a plentiful store. 

For follies of various degrees, — 
Ye long suffering masters of yore. 

Forgiveness we ask on our'kuees 1 

Examinations! ye send 

Through mo now a whole quiver of fears, 
And my hair always stands up on end 

When my friend Mr. Elwyn appears ;— 

For he made us construe and scan, 
And knew when we did the thing wrong, 



Turning to Hon. Mr. Ilackett, the chairman. 



66 

And we decnioil liim the most learned man 
That Harvard had sent us along. 

'Twas an lienor to answer him right, 

For bis Greek and his Latin ran pure, 
And when a boy "got his verb" right, 

Scholar Elwyn's endorsement was sure. 

And can I forget in time's space, 

Our friend through far years, without guile, 

The good Dr. Burroughs' face 
That helped us along with a smile? 

When he stood up and blessed the old school, 

(I can see him just now full of love,) 
We somehow felt sure 'twas his rule 

To bring blessings down from above. 

And I think, in these glad festal days 

He is not very far from us all, 
For he taught cheerful accents and grace, 

And gave his whole heart to Love's call. 

But the moments are waning! 'tis time 

That I fold up my leaves with "Farewell;" 
I came with this budget of rhyme, 

As a school-boy responds to the bell : 

You called me, — I sprang to my feet. 

For I felt the old fire of a boy: — 
You called me, — I could not but greet 

My brothers and sisters with joy. 

Come Learning, come Virtue, and Truth, 

And smile on thy votaries here; — 
We meet round the altar of youth, 

And pledge us by all that is dear; 

By hopes that are sacred to Right, 

By faith that is anchored in Heaven, 
By those who have passed from our sight, 

By love that no absence has riven, — 

As brothers and sisters whose lot 

Was cast on this beautiful shore, — 
To honor this blessed old spot, 

And to cherish and stand by it more ; 

To stand by each other, while here, — 

To rally around the old scene, — 
To help it along with good cheer. 

And to keep all its memories green. 

Music by the Band. 

Mr. J. W. P. Carter. That we not all forget our mathematics, our 
Latin, etc., I move we give three distinct, solid, a^nd prodigious cheers for 
James T. Fields, Esq. 

Three cheers were given in a style corresponding to the requirements of 
the call, after which the President said : 

My next duty is to announce and introduce Mr. Geo. W. Marston, as 
Master of Ceremonies on this occasion. 

Mr. Marston. Before reading the first sentiment, I would announce, 
that after the close of the speaking, dancing will take place in the tent, at 
the right, Dr James A. Spaulding acting as Floor Manager, assisted by 
Messrs. William R. Foster, George W. Bartlett, D. Webster Barnabee, 
Plumer D. Norton, Merrill E. Spalding, John L. Salter. 

It is evident that somebody thinks that crockery and High School edu- 
cation should be mixed up together, for a notice has been handed me from 
M. T. Betton & Co., which, although I do not see its application, I will 



67 

read: " A sale of crockery and glass ware will take place at the close of 
the dancing." [Laughter.] 

Now, please listen to The First Regular Sentiment : — Portsmouth, — 
Her past, her present, and her promise. 

The President. It is expected that Mr. Israel Kimball will respond 
to this sentiment. 

ADDRESS OF ISRAEL KIMBALL. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Ocntlemen. — As I was sitting one afternoon, a 
few days before 1 left the city of Washington, my thoughts recurred to 
my old home in Portsmouth, and to the anticipated meeting on tliis occa- 
sion, and I got lost for a while in a reverie; but coming out, I took up my 
pen, thinking I could write out some of my recollections of Portsmouth, 
for I am not a native-born citizen, but only a citizen by adoption, — a 
former schoolmaster, and a very poor one at that. Nevertheless, I was 
tolerated here in your midst for eighteen years. Since that time, for elev- 
en years, I have been one of the greatest publicans (1 do not say Repub- 
licans) in the country, and perhaps may be thought to be one of the great- 
est sinners. But, as I was going to say, I wrote out some few reminis- 
cences of Portsmouth, thinking that if I was called upon to say any thing, 
I might read from my manuscript; but I do not believe I shall be able to 
do it this afternoon, for I find that I am laboring under a very severe 
cold, and I think my lungs would give out before I could proceed beyond 
a very few pages. Under these circumstances I will call upon my son 
who was educated in the High School, in part, to read the manuscript. 

Mr. Geo. G. Kimball read as follows : 

Though silence on this occasion and in this presence, after the eloquent 
words to which you have listened from the gentlemen who have already 
addressed you, might much better become me than speech ; though I am 
unable to claim this as the city of my birth, or New Hampshire as the 
State of my nativity ; though I belong here only by adoption, and cannot 
claim to be a returned Son, in the same sense as you apply the term to 
your sons who have gone from }''ou and established for themselves homes 
elsewhere; — for though I have been absent from the city now nearly eleven 
years, 1 have all the while maintained my home in Portsmouth, and have 
always once a year returned to spend with you a few weeks, to enjoy a 
quiet rest after months of hard toil. And always once, and sometimes 
twice a year, if the occasion seemed to call for it, I have made a tlying 
visit to this city of my adoption to exercise the freeman's right of voting. 
Granting that as a returned Son I have no right to be heard on this occa- 
sion, nevertheless in consideration of the fact that I have travelled five 
hundred miles, making my visit a month earlier than I otherwise would 
have done, in order that I might be with you on this interesting occasion, 
I trust you will indulge me in a brief speech. 

On this 250th anniversary of the first settlement of our city, whether we 
claim it as ours by birth, or only by adoption ; on this anniversary of our 
national inde[iendence, a day which ought to be, if it is not, dearer to 
every American citizen now than ever before, since we have as the result 
of our late war, an undivided country, and one people, without a single 
slave in all the land to hold up his fettered limbs, and to shake his gall- 
ing cliains in mockery of our boasted freedom ; on this day destined to 
be memorable in the annals of our city for this second general re-union 
of her sons and daughters, when from the north and the south, from the 
east and from the west, having left their adopted homes, left their business, 
their professions, and variouii occupations, they have come together liere, 
come to old Portsmouth with the same spirit, and, I presume, with much 
of the same feeling as prompted the Jews, the tribes of Israel, in the days 
of the Psalmist, to go up to Jerusalem, from all the surrounding countries, to 
give thanks unto the name of the Lord, and to pray for tlie peace and 



68 

prosperity of Jerusalem ; on this day, and on such an occasion as this, 
it is not so difScult to speak as it is, from the multitude of thoughts and 
subjects that crowd upon the mind, to select those most fitting and ajtpro- 
priate for the occasion, and for the limited time allowed to a single speak- 
er. Being, as I have said, only an adopted son among you, I must leave 
it entirely to the native born sons and daughters to tell you how dear 
to the mind are the scenes of their childhood as now not recollections, 
but a re-inspection presents them to view. Pictures as vivid as those 
presented in the song of theOld Oaken Bucket, have been sketched by 
our own native poets of ever}' famous spot in and around Portsmouth. 
So let me say to the returned son or daughter, who has not time to visit 
every spot he loved so well to visit in his childhood and youth, or, if per- 
chance, in the march of progress and the growth of our city some of the 
old land marks have disa[ipeared and cannot be found, no matter how 
diligently the search may be made, purchase, before you leave the city, 
the songs of our native bards. And especially would I recommend you to 
purchase the poems, just published of our sufi'ering, blind, sweet singing 
brother. Drown, and purchase the "Rambles about Portsmouth," by our late 
beloved and deceased citizen, Charles W. Brewster, Esq., and as often as 
you read therefrom you shall revisit in fancy and imagination, aye, and in 
sweet recollection too, every loved spot which in youth or childhood may 
have been dear to you. 

Often does it happen when the young man leaves his home, leaves tho 
place of his nativity for a sojourn in other lands, and returns after long 
years of absence, that he finds everything changed. The people are 
changed and the place is changed, and he seeks in vain for a look of recog- 
nition, or for one familiar object. By a law of our being the people of 
every place must change. * * * * 

Less than twenty years ago your honored Mayor was a pupil of mine 
in one of tho schools of this city, and it gives me great pleasure, now, and 
here, to say that he was a good boy, and, according to my experience and 
observation, good boys seldom fail, if thej' live, to make good men. Maj'or 
Marvin was a good boy, and by his diligence and close application to his 
books, by his respect for order and good government, and oy his willing- 
ness to be governed, gave early evidence that he possessed one of the first 
qualifications requisite in him wlio is called to govern others, viz., ability 
to govern himself. Representing the City in its Council, representing it to- 
day in the various committees of reception given to her returned sons and 
daughters, representing it in its newspaper presses, in the legal profession, 
in almost every other profession, and in its active business interests are 
men I am proud, to-day, to take by the hand and greet as former pupils of 
mine, — pupils of mine during the period I had the honor of being a co-labor- 
er with those faithful and worthy teachers whom you all deliglit to remem- 
ber, Harris and Nichols and Senter and Chesley, all of whom have passed 
away since the last re-union, and Hoyt, Deraeritt, Payson and Ambrose 
still living, not to name the score or more of learned and faithl'ul women 
who labored and co-operated together to educate and to train up the then 
rising generation in the way they should go. These pupils of ours are 
the men and women who mainly represent the city to- day at home, and 
many of them are numbered among the returned sons a:id daughters who 
honorably represent our city among the people where they now dw^l, 
and whose presence here to-day is to me a source of unbounded deliglit. 

The changes I have spoken of in the population and the people of the city 
may render it necessar}' to introduce to our people the returned sons and 
daughters, for I have to acknowledge that so changed have become the 
peo{ile during the 11 years I have been absent from it that I do not 
now recognize one in ten of the people I meet on the street, whereas I for- 
merly knew them all, at least, by sight. But I can assure our friends that 
they can, without danger of getting lost, and without a guide, visit any 



69 

and every part of the city from Christian Shore, to New Caatle Bridge, and 
from Noble's Island, by the Creek, or by the Pound, to the Plains. A few 
of the old land marks are gone, but the city has not spread itself much. A 
few new streets have been opened. But all the thoroughfares leading 
from the city into the country, and all the old streets, and lanes of the city 
remain about as they were 30 years a^o, or at laast as they were fifty 
years ago. 

In its population, according to the returns of the late census, Portsmouth 
•hows no increase, but on the contrary a decrease, within the last twenty 
years, of nearly 500 persons. This ma}^ seem strange to a Portsmouth 
born man returned here to-day from the West, where cities are born in a 
day, and grow with such amazing rapidity ; — cities with ten, twenty, forty 
and fifty thousand inhabitants, where but a few years ago the native for- 
ests stood with all their grandeur, and broad rivers flowed onward toward 
the ocean knowing no sound save the dashing of their own waters. To our 
friends, if any such are here to-day from the city of Chicago, where they 
have seen an increase in population during the last 20 years of from 
30,000, to 300,000, or to our friends from Brooklyn and New York, 
in the former of which city's population, during the last twenty years, 
has advanced from 96,000" to 39(5,000, and in the latter from 500,000 
to nearly a million — or to our friends from any of the large cities of the 
Eastern and Middle States, where the census returns show corresponding 
increase. Or to one who has returned to his former home in this city af- 
ter a residence of ten years in our national Capital, where prior to the war 
there was a population of less than 50,000, but which has to-day a popu- 
lation of 130,000 — a city then aptly, though derisively styled the city of 
magnificent distances, but which, since the incubus of slavery has been 
lifted from her body, politic has leaped into the front rank of interesting 
and beautiful cities — a city with broader, better graded, and better paved 
streets and avenues, with public parks, gardens and fountains intorspersed, 
with more area of finely paved sidewalks, and with a better drainage than 
any other city in this country — a city with a church for every 1000 of its 
inhabitants, with its New England system of free schools, with new and 
elegant school houses, rivaling in beauty of architecture, and in conven- 
ience of arrangement the very best school houses in the land, with new 
and elegant buildings both public and private, going up in every direction, 
the results of modern improvement, and visible evidence of progress; to 
one accustomed to see these things and to participate in them, it may, it 
probably does seem strange to him, on his returning to this his native 
city, to find her just about the same as she was wlien he left, sitting like 
an old lady serenely under the shadow of her old elms and maples, looking 
through her gold-bowad spectacles, contemplating apparently the crowl 
of strangers who come annually at this season of the year, to eat some of 
her cod fish and chowder, and to bathe a little in the ocean water, which at 
every tide rise and fall at her feet, and which through the channel of her 
beautiful Piscataqua flow constantly by her doors. 

" 111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay." 

Does this couplet from Goldsmith's Deserted Village aptly illustrate the 
present condition of Portsmouth ? I think not. There has been undoubt- 
edly an increase in the wealth of our city during the last 30 years, and 
O large increase, in the aggregate, but no accumulations. The tendency 
has been to a more equal distribution, which manifests itself in the greatly 
improved appearance of the city. Of all the old and early settled towns 
in New England, with which I am acquainted, no one has within the last 
30 years improved its general appearance more than tlie city of Ports- 
mouth. True, its population has not increased, nor has the number of 
its dwelling houses and other buildings been much changed. But I very 



70 

distinctly recollect how it looked to me in 1844 when I first came here to 
live. There were then, as now, some magnificent old mansion houses, 
with their fine gardens, and beautiful surroundings, which gave an historic 
interest to the place. But the city itself looked old and eiiete. its streets 
were uncared for, untravelled, and fast growing over to grass. Its side- 
walks were poor and neglected. Its buildings were old and covered with 
the moss of age. Its fences were dilapidated, antiquated and bore but 
slight marks of paint. Its wharves were destitute of shipping, and its ware- 
house 07ice filled with the products of foreign ports, tenantless. Every- 
where were signs of old age, decrepitude, and decay. 

But how IS it to-day ? I refer not to the beautiful decorations and 
adornments put on for this particular occasion, this national holiday, this 
jubilant celebration of her 250th birthday, tliis grand reception day for her 
sons and daughters who have come to see her and renew their allegiance 
to their old mothers, and kiss the old hand that guided their footsteps in 
chlidhood and youth. But what is her every-day appearance? Travel 
through these streets, any day and you shall find them well filled with peo- 
ple eagerly intent on business, or pleasure. New and beautiful churches 
and school houses occupy old sites, or adorn new ones. The streets and 
sidewalks have not only been greatly improved, but they are everywhere 
adorned with choice sliade trees. Uld and dilapidated buildiugs have 
been removed or repaired. The painters have been abroad over the whole 
city, and, as a result, the old city seems to-day decked in garments of white 
and green, with garlands of flowers adorning her head, youthful in appear- 
ance and beautiful as a young bride adorned to meet her husband. 

Thirty years ago our city had the reputation, notwitiistandmg the visi- 
ble signs of decay to which I have just alluded, of being a wealthy city; 
and for those times, undoubtedly, there were here large accumulations of 
wealth, the results of a former prosperous commercial business. These 
accumulations of wealth remained in ttie city long after the decline of her 
commerce. But vested capital, government bonds which pay no taxes, 
bank stocks and railroad stocks, securities very convenient and desirable 
to the individual holder, but which add no facilities for the business of a 
city, and give no employment to its laborers, are of but small advantage 
to a city — mere accumulated wealth which gives no stimulant to business, 
nor employment to labor is a general curse instead of being, as it ought to 
be, a universal blessing. 

We claim for our city an increase of its material wealth during the last 
2u years, and the assessor's valuations show it equally with the facts 
which I have cited. Another query I propose to an.'^wer. Has there 
been any decay in her men ? I say no, the late census of the United States 
to the contrary notwithstanding. True the late census tables show a 
population less in 1870 by 477 persons than in 1850. But does this prove 
the men and women of the last generation wanting in vitality '! or that 
they have failed to multiply posterity in the same ratio as in other cities? 
Not at all. The men of Bortsmouth show no signs of decay. Look for a 
confirmation of this statement to the late published rolls of names of absent 
sous and daughters. I have been perfectly amazed to see the long rolls 
of names of persons of Portsmouth origin who have left their native city 
and gone to seek permanent, or temporary homes, in other places, and 
who help swell the population of other cities and towns. Scattered throuj^ 
the length and breadth of the land, go where you will, you shall find there 
some i'ortsmouih-born citizen, son or daughter. Could these people all 
have been kept at home, the city now would not have had houses enough 
to contain its population. 

There are in filty cities of the United States no less than 29,000 persons 
who were born in New Hampshire. And of the population of our neigh- 
boring city of Boston more than 7,O00 were born in New Hampshire, 
and a very large number of these were born in our city. These facts 



71 

are sufficient to show why Portsmouth has made no increase in Aer popu- 
lation according to the census returns. 

The average rortemouch boy is ambitious, too ambitious and too enter- 
prising to settle down for life, at home, while other cities oifer him so 
much wider and so much more tempting fields. The average Portsmouth 
boy is well trained and well educated, and possesses an aptness for buainesa 
which makes him in demand, and which secures for him higher positions 
and better reward elsewhere than he can hope to obtain at home. 

Portsmouth young ladies have ambition too, and besides being trained 
up under good home influences, they all have the benefit of our admirable 
system of public schools, which have been established and sustained with 
a liberal policy, and under the idea that in matters of education there 
should be no discrimination on account of sex, that the means of educating 
females should be equal in every respect to the means provided for edu- 
cating males. The Portsmouth young ladies are beautiful too, for which 
they are not to be blamed, beautiful as the Sabine women of old, the envy 
of their Roman neighbors. You know well how the Romans, by stratagem, 
and even at the risk of war, snatched the beautiful Sabine young ladies 
from their parents. Well, a great many of Portsmouth's young ladies 
have in like manner been snatched, from time to time, from their parents, 
to become the wives of the young men, the modern Raptores of other cities. 
In the manner I have thus alluded to, has our city been drained of its 
natural increase of population. Her sons have gone out voluntarily ; her 
daughters have been taken, nolens volens. 

But, notwithstanding this great drain, enough are left behind and of the 
right kind too, to take care of the city and its interests; enough to guard 
Well the old penates and to keep the hres still brightly burning on the old 
hearth stones. At their summons we come up here to-day as to a common 
home. Our hearts warm at the welcome reception given us. From all 
parts of the land we have heard your call to come home, to come to this 
common feast which you have so generously provided, to come to this 5th 
semi-centennial anniversary of the first settlement of old Strawberry Bank, 
offering to all the freedom of the city and the hospitality of its citizens. 
No other city in this country ever thought of thus collecting together her 
absent sons and daughters, and no sons and daughters of any other city 
ever eo spontaneously gathered themselves together on such an occasion 
before. We come because you have called us. We come called by the 
day and the occasion. We come to unite our congratulations with yours 
for all that Portsmouth has been in the past and for all she promises to be 
in the future. Boasting of an age running back to the time of the very 
first settlements made in the country, and thence onward through all the 
vicissitudes and changes of 250 years, you behold her to-day in appearance 
young and beautiful, with no signs of decay any where apparent. She is 
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing as a precursor of old age. As 
Daniel Webster, for years one of our citizens, once said of Massachusetts, 
80 we may say of old Portsmouth, that "her past history is safe." 

Three cheers were demanded for "our old and respected teacher, Israel 
Kimball." and given with great heartiness and evident sincerity. 

Second Regular Sentiment : — Our Teachers. Sometimes blessings in 
disguiBe. Our chastenings only furnished momentary clouds, that had 
their golden lining. In the light of after sunshine, we honor them for 
their fidelity, respect them for their stern virtues ; and trust their teach- 
ings. Their eloquent appeals, which detained us many half hours beyond 
Bchool hours, and their infrequent use of the rod have had the effect to 
make us better men and women, stronger in self-control, with loftier aims 
and aspirations. May they be forever blessed ! 

The President. Mr. Aurin M. Patson is expected to respond to the 
confession of the Master of Ceremonies. 

Mr. Payson said : Mr. President, Graduates and members of Ports- 



72 

mouth High Schools : I am exceedingly happy to meet you here to-day. 
All the circumstances save one, connected with this occasion are very 
pleasant; and that ojie, perhaps I magnify beyond its real importance, — 
still I feel embarrassed — for as I look over this assembly and see these 
young ladies and young gentlemen, gathered here in so great numbers, I 
find myself, as an eloquent son of Portsmouth said twenty years ago, all 
at once in sympathy with the old lady, whose tenement was leather and 
knew not what to ao. Changing the original of the story-book a little, I 
might truly assert, 

There was an old teacher, 
I've oft heard him pray, 
■When he met all his pupils, 
He'd know what to say. 

Amid the delightful distractions of the present week, I have been una- 
ble to collect ana concentrate thought for even this glad hour. 

The grand mistake in the life of teachers, has always seemed to me to 
be this ; that they attempted too many things and became distinguished 
in nothing. But to-day I am half inclined to reject the sentiment alto- 
gether ; for who can think of the merchant princes, lawyers, physicians, 
clergymen, editors, authors, members of state and national legislatures, 
artists and teachers, whose names we, dear and time honored co-laborers, 
can place on the list of our pupils, and not feel a becoming pride on 
such occasions as this ! What branch of honorable business, national or 
commercial enterprise, in which they may not be found ? It was a great 
satisfaction to hear one of their number so highly complmented by the 
gallant Col.'s chief of staff, who represented the New York delegation 
yesterday, in this tent. 

Let me tell you, sir, the present actors will play their part equally as 
well as those who are slowly retiring to the more shady scenes of life. 
They may not speak or write more logically and elegantly than Fields 
and Laignton, who charmed us with their eloquence yesterday, nor preach 
more forcibly than one who addressed us then and here. But I do say 
and say it without fear of contradiction, that if the enemies of human 
progress, attempt to obstruct their pathway, they will " take the battery 
at the point of the bayonet" they will "carry the enemy's works by storm." 
The world is to be handed over to civilization and the light of letters, 
-'and the "Man of sorrows" is yet to be the head of triumphant le- 
gions ! 

Go into any stirring, enterprising locality of earth, and if you can find 
a Portsmouth High school boy or girl, an inch even behind the foremost 
in business, or any good work, it will appear in next year's almanac, as 
one of the strange phenomena of the season ! If there be such a one, 
there must be something unnatural about it. I might mention a list of 
worthies — but it would be invidious, I can only tell you where you can 
have your wants supplied. If you need books, go to the world-renowned 
publishing houses of Boston, New York and Philadelphia 

If you want diamond rings and jewelry, inquire in this assembly of the 
dealers themselves. If you wish to know why all the sheep and camels 
are rushing to shelter for dear life, go to the large woollen jobbing houses 
of the same cities. Are you in search for dealers in drugs and meflicines, 
inquire at the paternal mansion in Richards' avenue before you take the 
cars ; and so I miglit say of all kinds of business, and of the earnest 
minds that manage^these branches of industry. But time is not allowed 
me, sir, to tell of' the Gideons and Baraks, and the hundreds, whose 
names I could mention with exceeding great pleasure. Still in- behalf 
of those who have preceded me as speakers let me predict that no pupil 
shall ever fail of success in life, if he or she do but follow the faithful and 
excellent instruction that they have received. Twenty years of my life 
I have endeavored to fill the oflice of Principal of the Portsmouth High 



73 

Schools, about ten years in each, and when you shall meet here again as 
many years hence, you can decide for yourselves, whether or not my pre- 
diction is true. 

Loud applause and three cheers for Mr. Payson. 

Third Regular Toast-.— The class of 1864. The first to form a Class 
Association, may its action and success be contagious. 

The President : this sentiment will be responded to by a graduate who 
has caught the contagion, and given it to several others. — Mr. Charles C. 
Hazlett. 

Response of C. 0. Hazlett : 

Mr. President : I thank you for your kind and flattering introduction. 
Ladies and Gentleman it is with sincere pleasure that I respond for the 
class of '64, for to the members of that class more than to any other, be- 
longs the honor of effecting this Reunion here to-day. A few years after 
graduating, the members of my class formed a Class Association not only 
for their own benefit and enjoyment but with the hope that at some future 
day a Reunion of the graduates and members of both schools might be ef- 
fected. 

' We have every year since organizing had our annual Supper (and good 
ones they have been too), our river excursions, and, most important of all, 
our Class Secretary has kept a complete record of the residences, occupa- 
tions and successes of the various members. And the very fact that such 
a record is kept, is an incentive to each member, — or at least I know it is 
to me, to maEe each of our records as honorable and successful as that of 
any of our classmates. I hope this Association will be as successful as 
has that of the class for which I have the honor to respond. 

Fourth Regular Toast; — The Studi/ of the Classics. — The golden key, 
unlocking the doors of some of the richest treasure-houses of our language. 

The President. This sentiment will be responded to by a young lady 
who holds the key, and knows how to use it. 

Response of Miss Susie P. Spaulding : 

"The Golden Key which unlocks the richest treasures of our language" 
is turned but by a few. Some turn it partly round, a very ambitious few 
only turn it entirely around. Saxe very happily describes one who never 
turned the key as follows : 

"Novis, whose silly claim to high position 

Is genuine, if wealth can make it true, 
A youth whose stock petroleum, not patrician, 

Shines none the less for being fresh and new, 
Staniling before a flaming placard sees. 

Announcing thus the lecture of the night 
By Everett — • The Age of Pericles.' 
Novis, half doubting if he reads aright. 

Repeats the words, soliloquizing loud, 
'The age of Pericles!' I wonder now 

That such a theme should gather all this crowd 
That throng the door with such a mighty row; 

There isn't one among them, I'll engage. 

That cares a fig about the fellow's age." 

(Laughter and applause.) 

Fifth Regular Toast : — The High School Scholars of Strawberry Bank, 
— Its earliest and sweetest fruit. 

The President. I propose to set before you some of our ripened fruit 
and will call upon Rev. Edward A. Rand, of South Boston. 

Response by Rev. Edward A. Rand of South Boston. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am thinking what a splendid christening this child of our love, the 
High School Association will receive. And if it starts with so much 
eclat, what will its future be? I am asked to speak about some of the 
summer fruit in Old Strawberry Bank. As a lady has preceded me, and^a 



74 

second represented by me is to follow, and then a third is to speak, I can 
but think in what a quantity of tlie sweetest of this summer fruit I am 
packed. 

I would call your attention, Mr. President, to two features of this sum- 
mer fruit. I think it was old Izak Walton who said that God might have 
made a better berry, but it was evident he had not. We may say of our 
High School scholars that possibly there might have been better boys and 
girls, but as a fact we don't believe there have been. 

Anotlier feature of this summer fruit is that it don't perish. The straw- 
berry leaves on my badge have begun to spoil. The fruit grown on Old- 
Strawberry Bauk does not wither. The mind of our scholars is not de- 
caying. The body may lose, the mind improves. I met to-day one whom 
we would call an "old boy." He said "I am just the same as ever." Lift- 
ing his hat, he showed something of a "snowy expanse." As we grow old- 
er, though we may not have a W'ebsterian brain, we are apt to get a 
Websterian brow. Our friend while affirming that he was just the same, 
added, "1 am only a little more barefoot up here.''' 

Though the body may lose, the mind is just the same. Indeed our sum- 
mer fruit improves. And to show this, I will read these verses prepared 
by one who was formerly an enthusiastic member of our Girls' High 
School, and as she could not be here to-day, I am very glad to read these 
verses for her. I refer to Mrs. Carrie Whiton, of South Boston. (Loud 
applause.) 

COMING HOME. 

This Is our birth-place ! Lo ! from East and West, 
From North and South, a welcome here we claim ; 
Wonderinj;, iu fields our childhood's feet have pressed, 
If birds will slug the same ; 

"Wondering, if sighing trees that skirt the town, 
With the same sweetness, older hearts will thrill, 
Or roses with their beauty laden aown, 
Blush by the wayside etiU. 

Back through life's changing scenes our memories run, 
Nor yet have known the summer hues as bright 
As when we saw our hope's unshadowed sun 
With youth's unshadowed sight. 

Yet as to-day, with graver mien, we meet. 
And tread again the iinforgotten ways, 
We clasp each other's hands with hearts that beat 
As in our earlier days. 

Over the blinding mist of years we pass. 
And iu the light familiar faces rise ; 
Even the clover swinging in the grass. 
Looks brighter to our eyes. 

Beneath the elms tliat sheltered us in play 
We look in eyes that kindle as of yore ; 
And lo ! our cares drop silently away, 
And we are young once more. 

What matter if the touch of time has wrought . 

Its "chisellings" on each remembered face ; ^ 

The sculptor of the soul, whose name is Thought, 
Gives every line a grace. 

And 80 with outspread hands, we say "All hail !" 
This great Reunion but preludes the one 
When the Eternal hand shall lift the veil 
From the Eternal Sun. 

There, 'neath the unchanging splendor of the skies. 
Each soaring soul, a higher beauty given, 
God's great "All hail" from hosts on hosts shall rise 
In our new birthplace — heaven! 



75 

I think, Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen, that these verses 
prove that our summer fruit keeps well, and improves with time. 

Sixth Regular Toast-. — Tke Education of oar Laughters, as advanced 
as that of our iSons. — The civilization that has passed beyond the distinc- 
tions of caste, color and creed, should not halt at that of sex. [Applause.] 

The Peesident. Ladies and Gentlemen. — This sentiment will be re- 
sponded to, by a lady who has already shown that she knows how our 
daughters ought to be educated — Miss Sara L. Garrett. 

RESPONSE OF MISS SARA L. GARRETT. 

While all the sentiments proposed here this afternoon are worthy of 
emanating from the mmds of our graduates, this we hold to be one of the 
most noble, embodying j'ears of labor of our ancestors, and the hopes and 
desires of the present generation. Not many years ago it was deemed un- 
necessary for girls to have an education. Let the boys attend college, 
and the girls manage the affairs of the household and tend the babies. Now 
we would not change this, but we argue — if woman is to have the training 
of the men of the future generation, in their most tender and impressible 
years, implant ideas and cultivate tastes which shall color their lives and 
perliaps cling to them while life sliall last — she must have all tlie advan- 
tages of a liberal education. Colleges must throw open their doors — some 
of ihem have already done so — and we believe the time not very far dis- 
tant when Dartmouth and Harvard will not only throw wide open their 
doors, but each will regret she was not the first to welcome the girls. 

Truly, civilization marches forward witli rapid footsteps, leaving traces 
of her presence which will never be effaced — like the circle made by the 
little pebble cast in the ocean — widening and widening till its limits are 
lost in the boundless waters. Let us cast our eyes back to the time of our 
martyred President. Who of us thought the time had come when the poor 
benighted Africans, (God's children as well as we) who of us, I say, 
thought these people would be freed from their bondage — placed on a level 
with their former masters, — allowed the right of ballot, and given an equal 
share in the government of our country ? Lincoln was hooted at, railed at 
as a madman by many, yet he had faith to believe that a just God would 
sustain the right; and we all know the result. 

And now i would like to ask this question — do you place your colored 
brethren, your naturalized foreigners, on a higher plane than your mothers, 
your wives and your daughters y Like Pat, you would give an evasive an- 
swer and say there can be no comparison ; but we say, " actions speak 
louder than words." 

Do you say women are not educated? What is your standard ? Tell us, 
that we may attain unto it, for we know we would do anything to please 
you. But IS your half intoxicated foreigner, who has just cunning enough 
to sell his vote and just strength enougti to drag himself to the ballot with 
another man's idea — is he educated '! But perhaps you may say " we think 
too tenderly of you to expose you to calumny and insult." Let us not for- 
get, sisters, that while many of us have fathers, husbands or brothers to 
protect and represent us, there are thousands of noble-minded women, in 
the great cities, battling with stern necessity, crushed down by oppression ; 
and i tell you since such is the case, it is time something should be done 
that the down-trodden of our sex should be uplifted and the ignorant 
educated, that all may pursue their way, guided by a God-given conscience 
in thti paths he has marked out for them. Let us not forget them, but 
make our education the means of benefitting those less fortunate. Let ua 
cultivate conscience in this as in all else, that it may be for us a constant 
guide. 

Seventh Regular Sentiment: — The Ladies. — Our brightest and most 
precious jewels. In honoring them, we honor ourselves. 



The President, Mr. Frank W. Miller, is expected to honor himself 
by responding to that sentiment. 

RESPONSE OF FRANK W. MILLER. 

Mr. President,— Z/a(^ie.s and Gentlemen, — Brothers and Sisters. — I am 
very happy to be here, — I don't mean on tliis platform, but here among 
you, notwithstanding I am to do such a fearful stint in a hot afternoon. 
Let us see what it is. I did not hear of it until a couple of hours ago, and 
I wish I had not heard of it at all. " The Ladies — Our brightest and most 
precious jewels. In honoring them, we honor ourselves." Am I expected 
to speak /or the ladies, of the ladies, or to the ladies? 

The President. I don't know but all three. 

Mr. Miller. All three ! Thank you ! I think the ladies are capable of 
speaking for themselves; I have always found them so ; and I must be ex- 
cused from speaking for them, I think, except very briefly. The idea of 
following, in re.'iponse to a toast of this kind, the speakers that we had yes- 
terday and have had to-day — Fields, Peabody, and all the rest of them ! 
No, 1 will leave the ladies to speak for themselves, mostly ; and more 
especially as ladies have been called here and have spoken for themselves, 
and spoken wisely and well. Furthermore my friend Rand (he ought to 
have known better; he used to carry papers for rne) has stolen my toast. 
I had it all written out — " Strawberry Bank" — "Fruit," and all that. He 
must have seen it on my desk. So 1 must omit that. Marston ought to 
have known better, too, (he is one of my old carriers), than to get me into 
this scrape. But it seems to me the sentiment expressed here is a little 
selfish. I think the ladies should be loved for themselves, and honored for 
themselves, not to do honor to ourselves. We are taught to do good for its 
own sweet sake, and not for any reward, — and so I do, I hope. (Laughter.) 
I saw a motto down on the street, and I took off my hat to it. 1 did not 
need to be reminded of it, but I was glad to see it there, that strangers 
might know it. " The Girls, God bless them ! are all right." (Applause.) 
We all knew that before. It was merely for the information of strangers 
from abroad. 

Now, Mr. President, if I am expected to respond for the ladies on the 
•ground that I was a High School girl, I can't do it, sir; I plead "not 
guilty." (Laughter.) But I was the next thing to it: I took one of them 
home. That was the best I could do, Mr. President. I was not allowed to go 
to the High School with the girls, I am sorry to say. Why, boys and girls, 
when I went to the High School, under Mr. John P. Tasker, (of pleasant 
memory to me always,) and, for a few months only, under my friend 
Kimball (who was always exceedingly kind to rne, and I thank him,) 
when I went to that school, in a sort of garret, or old rookery, where do 
you think they sent the girls to school ? In an old cellar under the Court 
House! True as you live ! (Laughter.) And if I wanted to see one of them 
at recess, I had to sneak down around that old Court house, and be there 
when school let out. (Renewed merriment.) But that is not so How. You 
see young ladies going to school, and the young men happen round 
just at the right time, and they walk u{) street together, as nice as can be. 
There is'nt a bit of trouble! (Laughter and applause.) ^ 

I have not been able to attend many school exhibitions ; in fact, when 
I have been, I have got so frightened, that I did not dare to go again. I 
was afraid the children would exhibit me, instead of ray exhibiting them. 
But once I did go down ; it was an hour or two after the exhibiton of the 
medal scholars ; there was a charming young lady there, (it was only a 
short time ago,) and she had a medal, and 1 could not but contrast the 

school there, 1 was going to tell a story, but it won't do to tell tales 

out of schools, girls, and I guess I won't tell tliat. I fancy my wife is hete 
somewhere ! It was about the medal ; and I took it off of her neck, and 
made some remarks, and all that. (Merriment.) I guess I won't tell any 



77 

thing about that, now. But, I want you to remember, girls and boys, to- 
day, that the late Mayor Walker did as much or more than any other man 
to give you the beautiful schools in which you now take so much pride, in 
place of the old under-ground room and the rookery in the garret. 
And I want to say, to the credit of Mr. Marvin, that he insisted upon 
clearing the girl's school out of that cellar under the Court House, and lie 
shouM be remembered to-day for that. He ought to have something to 
say about children, for you know he has got a few of his own, — and good 
boys they are, too. 

I remember, sir, on a certain occasion, when you and I were in the 
newspaper business together, there was a new daily paper started, and an 
old fellow at the west end who had taken our paper for a good while, — an 
honest old gentleman, — sent a note down to the office, saying, " you will 
please discontinue the Chronicle, for obvious reasons." I had known papers 
stopped for all sorts of reasons, and for no reason, but this was something 
new. I was too old in the business to be disturbed by this, but my young 
friend was a good deal troubled; he did not know but we should have to 
lower the old flag, and give up the ship. Now, I was not expected to 
speak for the ladies, "for obvious reasons," but I will tell you a little story, 
which may be apt on this occasion. It is not new, but perhaps you have 
not all heard it. 

The master of a country school was questioning his boys about religion 
or theology (I guess he had more theology than religion in him, judging 
by the result), and said he to a boy — " How many gods are there? " The 
boy thought it over, and said, "Two " Well the master gave him a whip- 
ping. 1 don't think that helped his knowledge much or his religion, or 
even his theology. He asked the next boy ; " How many gods are there? " 
He thought he would go one better, and he said, " Three," The master 
gave him an outrageous whipping. Each scholar increased the number, 
until one little fellow whose seat was near the window, got as close to it as 
he could, and when the question came to him, said " Ten.". The master 
made a dive for him, and he went out of the window like a shot. He walked 
around, thinking that theological questions were verj^ difficult and trouble- 
some things, until he met a boy coming along with his books under his arm, 
" Where are you going? " "I am going to school." "A pretty fellow you 
are to go to school: How many gods are there?" "One." "Oh! you 
look well going down to school with your one god. I said there were ten, 
and I nearly got my back broke." (Laughter and applause.) So if I should 
undertake to speak too much for the ladies, I might want to jump over the 
bounds, and I don't want to hurt any of them. 

I was very glad to hear Brother Fields (perhaps I may call him so) come 
out yesterday so squarely for the ladies. God bless them ! they are all 
right, but the men don't treat them right. That is what's the matter. My 
experience and observation have been, invariably, that the ladies are not 
only equal to men, take them in education, or in any business capacity, 
but they are superior to men. I have no question to-day that there are 
a hundred women in this town who would succeed in business better than 
any hundred men taken at random. That has been my experience, and 
the experience of all business men. Now, why should they not have an 
equal chance with the men ? But when they used to put tlie young ladies 
down under the Court House, they put the boys up stairs; it was a ])retty 
good, airy place. They were afraid to give the women an equal chance, 
they were afraid they would beat the men ; — and they will every time ; 
(applause.) I go in for letting women have every thing they are entitled 
to including good husbands, who neither smoke nor drink. (Applause.) 

I am very glad, Mr. President, that an organization like this has been 
formed. When I first heard of it, I said, " 'That does not concern me ; I 
never went to the High School ; " but come to think it over, I did. We 
old fellows have almost forgotten it. We never had the girls asking us to 



7a 

come out evenings; they were shoved down under the Court House ; we had 
to go after them evenings, or any other time, if we wanted to see them. I 
am very glad of these social gatherings, and am very happy to take part 
in them. I shall close with a very brief toa.st: 

The Oirh of Portsviouth, at home and abroad Give them an equal 

chance with the boys. (Loud applause.) 

EiQHTH Requlas Sentiment : — Our Siyigers. — Their notes are never 
protested. 

The Presideitt. It is expected that this sentiment will be responded to 
by a gentleman who is always on time, and who is somewhat given to 
making us forgot its flight. It is expected that he will take up these notes, 
for the honor of the maker. I notify Henry C. Barnabee. (Enthusiastic 
applause.) 

RESPONSE OF HENRY C. BARNABEE. 

I thank you most heartily, Mr. President, for the toast complimentary 
to my profession, and you, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the kind reception 
you have accordeii me in connection with it. Were I in the habit of 
making speeches, I know of no occasion when I should feel more in the 
mood than the present, which calls up so many reminiscences of my school 
daj^s. Were I able to do so, I am afi'aid I should have to appear in the 
character of the bad boy and recite some of the laughable experiences of 
school life, which though they might be fun for you, would be productive 
of anything but that emotion in the breast of my old teacher, Mr. Kimball, 
■who i have no doubt is sitting there thinking of the fearful struggle he 
had in endeavoring to make rae walk in wisdom's pleasant ways. 

I beg him, however, to believe that the spirit of fun which so exercised 
him was but the germ of that talent, which in later years, if it has not 
done anything for the world's advancement, has, I trust, effected some- 
thing in furtherance of that gospel of cheerfulness so eloquently advocated 
by our friend Mr. Fields of whom we all feel so proud. I am not vain 
enough to suppose that you expected a speech from me. You only desire 
an illustration of the sentiment of the toast, I therefore propose to sing 
you a song, and in order to avoid a visitation from the coat tail committee 
who are authorized to pull us down in five minutes, I shall do it at once. 
1 have selected the song entitled the " Cork Leg," not because of any 
Bpecial appropriateness for this place, but because of its potency on former 
occasions in setting things in motion. 

I beg to assure you of my warm interest in this celebration by the cheer- 
fulness with which I throw myself into a violent perspiration. Let me 
add the hope that the sweet influence on this occasion will not close the 
present exercises, but, like tlie Dutchman's leg of which I am about to 
sing to you, go on forever. 

In response to the vociferous applause which followed "The Cork Leg," 
Mr. Barnabee said : I should be very happy to answer your call, but I 
beg you to remember, that I am very nervous, and ever since I received 
notice that I was expected to do something here, I have eaten it, drank it, 
and slept it, and now I am glad to get rid of it. I trust, therefore, that 
you will allow me to slip into my corner and enjoy the rest of the after- 
noon. [Applause.] 

Ninth Regular Sentiment: — The High School Bojj of the future. — A 
" What is it ?" 

The President. This sentiment is expected to be answered by a gentle- 
man who has shown abundantly what the High School Boy of the present 
is. We expect to hear from the Hon. James Shaw, of Mobile. 

RESPONSE OF THE HON. JAMES SHAW. 

Mr. President ,• — If you had called upon me to respond for the High School 
Boy of the past, I might have been able to say something that would inter- 



79 

est you and do justice to the subject; but " the High School Boy of the 
future" opens up a field of discussion and speculation that I do not care 
to enter upon this hot day. The High School Boy of the past is a figure 
around which my fondest and most pleasant recollections cluster. I re- 
member him when he attended the old " rookery" on State street, the 
chief distinction of which was, that the front door was on the back yard. 
[Laughter.] I remember him when, as a " bad boy," he bankrupted his 
pockets in spruce beer dissipation at Capt. Clark's restaurant, when the 
noble Hand and the lamented Laighton were the types we strove to emu- 
late. [Applause.] I have marched by his side through the dust of south- 
ern soil and beneath the heat of a southern sun. I have witnessed his 
courage under fire ; his patient endurance in the hospital ; and wherever 
I have seen him, the training of Kimball and Payson, and the influence of 
our old alma mater, have flowered into a manhood which it was a pride and 
pleasure to be associated with. [Applause.] And then the fellowship of those 
boys ! only those can appreciate it who have met them in strange cities, 
an^ in a hostile country. The recollections and reminiscences which an occa- 
sion like that calls up, I tell you, friends, make it an oasis in the memory 
of the absent Portsmouth High School Boy which dwells there for years. 

Of the High School Boy of the future,"! will not say much, except that 
I hope he will be worthy to succeed those who have gone before. In 
their lives, he will find incentives to industry and perseverance, and in 
the death of many, he will learn the lesson, that 

" Whether on the scaffold high, 

Or in the battle's van. 
The fittesi place for man to die 
, Is where he dies for man." 

Tenth Regular Sentiment; — The Schoolmaster Abroad. — Portsmouth 
Schools are ever ready to meet any drafts which the needs of her sister 
communities may make upon her supply of educated Sons and Daughters. 

RESPONSE OF REV. WM. G. NOWELL, OF MALDEN. 

I suppose I am called to respond to this sentiment because I have been 
trying to supply the needs of a Massachusetts town in the way of High 
School teaching, and am perhaps the only schoolmaster now at work 
abroad representing the old High Schools of Portsmouth. 

Certainly I am justfied in saying to you here that in doing this, the 
work of my six days, I am doing little more than endeavoring to carry out 
the principles of education and use the knowledge, for the goodly founda- 
tion of which I am indebted to the schools of my boyhood. 

I should be recreant to my own sense of simple gratitude due, did I fail 
to mention to-day the names revered by me as the names of the teachers, 
helpers, friends, of my boyhood. Miss Place and Mrs. Mudge, in the little 
brick schoolhouse north of the Burroughs mansion ; Miss Eliza Salter, in 
one of those landmarks of the olden time now removed from opposite the 
old Wentworth residence on Pleasant street ; and Mr. Israel Kimball, 
whom so many of his old boys delight to honor here to-day. 

The principle of conscientious study for the sake of study itself, of knowl- 
edge, of growth ; the persuasive power of a kindly personal interest, the 
habits of attention, of accuracy, of research, which characterized the 
Portsmouth High Schools of 20 to 30 years ago, are the things which we 
find the High Schools of the suburbs of the metropolis of New England 
need to-day. In those schools we do not do everything just on the old 
.pattern. The good pupil follows his master not as a slavish copyist, but 
as an illustrator of his principles and spirits. 

Our boys and girls, not only walk to school together, but they sit 
mingled together all over the main room of our one High School for bot4i 
boys and girls ; and those of us who are accustomed to the perfectly harm- 
less and in many ways advantageous method of the united school, are glad 



80 

to witness in this first meeting of this new joint association of the grad- 
uates of the Portsmouth High Schools, a token that j^ou in the old home- 
stead are moving into line with the times. 

We do not say our Latin just as you do. Instead of de gustibus non 
disputandmn, something which sounds like day goosteeboos none deespoo- 
tahndoom. We transmute the name of the old commander of the conquering 
legions and emperor of the eternal city from Gesar into the hard ringing 
Kaiser. We transform the silver-tongued orator of the old Roman com- 
monwealth from Cicero into Keekayro. We turn jam into yam. 

In old times the switch of the birch and the swift sharp stroke of the 
ferule were experiences rather to be expected. In our day, as the old boys 
about mo will testify, they were comparatively infrequent ; but in the pic- 
tures we form of the more ancient schoolmaster these implements of torture 
are the inseparable accompaniments of his severe presence. We do not 
find need for their use to-day ; and I pledge you that while I represent your 
association as a schoolmaster abroad, I will not inflict corporeal punish- 
ment in any way whatever. There are many other points of need and of 
lack of need in the schools abroad to which I might refer, and in this 
presence memories of the past come crowding thick and fast upon my 
Drain and fill my heart. 

But we of 20 and more years ago are old fellows. As the poet sings : 

remula necdiim, 
Temporibua gemiuis canebit sparsa senectus. 

The tales we would tell seem antiquated to you. Let me only add that 
the schoolmaster abroad, as I doubt not these at home, finds the girls of our 
High Schools at least not inferior to the boys, and that some among them 
are eager to be educated by substantial studies rather than to be ornament- 
ed by light and frivolous accomplishments. I know two girls, who, taking 
four daily studies instead of three, and these four the advanced and in 
part difiicult studies of Greek, Latin, French and Trigonometry, hold un- 
disputed the foremost places in their class, — and the class includes among 
its number three young men preparing for college. 

I renew my expressions of gratification at the evidence we have to-day 
of a progressive spirit in the management of the old scliools of our home 
love, confessing at the same time that however far we of Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire side by side may advance to meet the demands of the 
future in our school systems, we school masters abroad, sons of old Ports- 
mouth, shall still be carrying out the essential principles which governed 
the conduct of the schools of our time, and will always acknowledge, with 
a glad and deep gratitude, the fostering care with which she trained and 
educated us in childhood and youth. 

Mr. H. C. Baenabee. A few verses have been hastily prepared by two 
of the poets of Portsmouth, and I will ask you to rise and join me in sing- 
ing the chorus — " As we go marching on." 

The following was then sung by Mr. Barnabee, with accompaniment by 
the band, the audience joining in the chorus : 

We've halted to-rlay in the weary march of life, 
We're pitched our tents far away fi-om its strifo. 
On the old camp ground, with scliool memories rife, 
Ere we go marching on. 

Thank God, we are here at the roll-call of to-day. 
Boys and girls all together, tho' golden locks are gray; 
With some it is evening, we are looking for the day. 
As we go marching on. 

We talk of the days that have drifted away, 
Like boats on the shore of a wind-swept day ; 
Whatever the morrow, we are singing to-day, 
Ere we go marching on. 



81 

Eleventh Regular Sentiment : — Our Army — Portsmouth Boys. — First 
to attack and last to retreat. 

The President. This will be responded to by a '' Portsmouth Boy" 
who was there, and who will tell you how the boys behaved. 

RESPONSE OP CAPT. J. ALBERT SANBORN. 

Mr. Chairman and Friends: — About nine years ago, during the discus- 
sion of a little question between two rather important sections of our coun- 
try, I .had the honor to be connected with a regiment of New Hampshire 
soldiers. As a part of the regiment, Portsmouth aad the Boys' High 
School was honorably represented in one of the most brilliant and success- 
ful charges of the war. 

We had stormed one of the strongest batteries in front of Petersburgh ; 
we had captured a large number of prisoners, guns, and materials of war ; 
we had hastily reformed our columns of attack and had attacked and 
driven the enemy from his second line of works; the fighting had been • 
bloody and victory had been purchased only at the sacrifice of many pre- 
cious lives, and we were at last gathering together the fragments oi our 
companies, when an Irishman belonging to another company, and who 
had been through it all, came up to me and said : " Captain, will you he 
kind enough to let down the hammer of me musket, I nlver fired a gun in me 
life." 

This is the only son of the Green Isle I ever saw, to whom fighting was 
not as natural as eating, and I have often thought that through all the 
dash, daring and excitement of that contest, the emotions of Patrick mu?t 
have been peculiar, and altogether indescribable. But I never expected to 
be agitated by the same feelings, until your Master of Ceremonies, a few 
hours ago, told me that I was expected to respond to a toast. 

And now, Mr. Chairman and friends, although I have been uplifted and 
borne along by the same deep emotions which have filled all your hearts ; 
although I have grasped the hand and renewed the acquaintance of many 
schoolmates and companions of earlier years ; although my eyes have seen 
and my ears have heard the glory of the coming of our girls and boys, in 
these beautiful decorations, inspiring music, and happy ,>miling faces 
which even now fill our city with light and joy, yet, when I am set to 
the dreaded task of making a speech, I feel the request of Patrick is the 
only figure that will illustrate my dilemma, and I shall ask you, Mr. 
Toastmaster, to let down the hammer of my musket, for I never fired a 
shot — of this kind — in my life. 

This morning I was honored by an invitation to attend the serenade 
given by the New York delegation to their friends. In parsing along the 
streets of our city, my heart was touched to hear one after another of that 
delegation say to the leader of their band, " Mr. Downing, in this house I 
was born, here my parents live, will you oblige me by playing " Home 
Again," or " here resides my dear old grandmother ; if a kind Providence 
spares her life a few years longer, she will be 100 years old, please play 
'Sweet Home !' " And as the ever dear and familar notes of these household 
hymns were wafted througli the early morning air, sad or happy and 
grateful tears would fill their eyes, which they did not attempt nor care to 
restrain. I thought while standing there, " why here are these men of 
whom we are all proud, our brothers who are winning fame and fortune 
for themselves in distant cities, and conferring honor upon the city of their 
birth, and every son and daughter of Portsmouth, but better than honors, 
or fame, or fortune, their hearts are in the right place; they love, remem- 
ber, and cherish their own." And this, my friends, is the whole of it. This 
is the key which has opened all our hearts and doors, this the impulse 
which has turned all these many thousand faces homewards to meet 
with us. 



82 

So it was with your soldiers and sailors. We need but recall the" names 
of Storer, Pearson, Whipple, Richards, Gerrish, Goss and many others, or 
need but recount the flags in yonder cemetery, each marking a soldier's 
grave, to be aware of the fact that our city has placed its full quota upon 
the altar of sacrifice. Our soldiers possessed those attributes which give 
distinction to our living sons at home and abroad, and were rich in those 

Dualities which ennoble human nature and which obscurity of birth cannot 
im, nor exalted station gild. 

I trust that I may claim for your soldiers, that their hearts also were in 
the right place, that they loved their kindred, their homes and their coun- 
try, and that they endeavored to do their duty. 

(Loud applause followed, the band playing " The Red, White and Blue.") 

M.woR Marvin. A lady at my side requests me to arise and propose 
three cheers for Capt. Sanborn and the noble soldiers of Portsmouth whom 
he represents. (Three cheers.) 

Twelfth Regular Sentiiient: — The Navy. — Portsmouth proudly 
claims her share in the lustre of its achievements. 

The President. To be responded to by Mr. Frank W. Hackett. 

RESPONSE OF FRANK W. HACKETT, 

Ladies and Gentlemen : I think if any body else except my paternal 
relative had told me to come up here, I shouhl have disobeyed. I obey 
him, not only because he happens to be my father, but because he has 
been a schoolmaster; a fact 1 did not find out until I was a.bout ten years 
old, and tlien, of course, I began to obey him all the more strictly. 

Franklin said, that the man who was good at apologies was seldom good 
at any thing else; and if I have got to do up the Navy in five minutes, I 
cannot take up more than half a minute in apologies. But I propose to 
do it. When our friend Marston here, who has such winning manners, 
asked me to respond to a toast, I said, "Certainly." I did not know what 
it was; but, being connected with the High School, I supposed it would be 
something classical, and I could go home and ransack Virgil and Horace, 
and get up something that would do. But I was busy all day yesterday 
in looking after a lot of enthusiastic fellows hailing from Washington, and 
sundry other places, and when I retired, my sleep was troubled, and I 
woke up with the nightmare, thinking that I had got to say something 
here this afternoon about the Navy. I was reminded of an anecdote of 
one Mr. Burns, who used to live about forty rods from here ; some of you 
may remember him. He was a colored man, engaged in the purifying and 
elevating occupation of whitewashing. There was a white man connected 
with him (although I don't think he had quite so much ability in that 
line), named Ames. One day some one thought he would flatter Mr. 
Burns, so he tapped him on the shoulder and said, " Mr. Ames, how do 
you do this morning?" Burns drew himself up to his full height (it didn't 
take a great while), and said he, " I guess you have made a wrong mis- 
take." (Laughter.) I thought Marston "made a wrong mistake' in 
asking me to speak for the Navy! I remember that I had some brass 
buttons on my coat at one time, and the only regret I hail, was that they 
sent me down South so soon after I got them that I did not have a chance 
to get near the ladies, to see what efiect they would have. (Laughter.) 

Now, I have been thinking all the afternoon (except when Barnabee 
was singing) what the Portsmouth High School has to do with the Navy, 
and I have not been able to find out that it has any thing to do with it, 
unless it be that some of our High School young ladies teach our naval 
officers how to get good prizes, — and I don't believe they could get any 
better ones. (Applause.) When I looked over the list of our young lady 
graduates who have joined the Navy, it was perfectly appalling ! I had 
something to do with sending out the circulars telling our absent graduates 
what their friends were doing at home, and I found there were four or five 



83 

at Annapolis, and how many there are at the other navy yards, I do not 
know. 

Well, as to the boys, I suppose, with a little industry, I could find many 
a young man who has gone forth from the High School to some war vessel, 
where he has done his duty, and his whole duty. But the time is short, 
and I could not refer to these names, if I would. I might speak of Harris, 
(who came out from the High School with me.) and Bates, and Boardraan, 
who have passed away, and Penhallow. But there comes up before me 
the vision of one young man to whom I must briefly refer. A young man 
known to some of you, a little younger than myself, cast in a slender 
mould, with a voice as sweet and delicate, almost, as that of woman, 
around whom there was ever sunshine; who went forth from these streets 
with many a friendly clasp of the hand and many a " God-speed," and 
who stood upon the deck of the "Oneida" as she took that sudden 
plunge to the deep below, when was uttered that memorable sentence, 
" I will not leave my post until regularly relieved." There passed away 
Thomas L. Tullock, Jr.. of the "Oneida;" and in him we see a type of the 
young man born in Portsmouth, and taught in our High Schools. (Loud 
applause.) 

But, my friends, the moment I enter upon thoughts like these, memories 
crowd upon me so thick and fast that it were impossible to give vent to 
my emotions, especially when so little time is accorded for the purpose. I 
will therefore close simply with the sentiment: That it is our hope, that in 
the future, the young men nurtured here, who go out to fight life's battles, 
whether in the Navy or the Arm}'-, or to share in " the victories which 
Peace hath, no less renowned than War," may be worthy of the fair repute 
of the city of Portsmouth, and may always and everywhere do their 
whole duty. (Loud applause, the band playing " Hail Columbia.") 

Thirteenth Regular Sentiment : — Our Merchants. — The bargains of 
the school-yard have grown into the traffic of the nation. Energy and 
integrity are the pillars of mercantile success. 

The President. This will be responded to by one who has the "pil- 
lars," and has commanded and is commanding "success," Mr. Samuel J. 
Nowell. 

RESPONSE OF ME. SAMUEL J. NOWELL, OF NEW YORK. 

My voice is not so strong as my heart. It has succumbed to the fatigues 
of the occasion, but I appreciate so highly the compliment tendered in 
my selection as your vice president from New York, that I cannot decline 
to say at least a few words in response to your call. A young friend of 
mine, who was recently at Geneva, and now is a resident of Washington — 
I won't call his name for his modesty would object, — wrote me last week, 
that people sat down on the curb-stone and cried because thej"^ were not 
born in Portsmouth. 

When I first read the statement I was disposed to Hack-it in two, and 
take it half at a time, but since I have been the recipient of your beauti- 
ful and touching hospitality, I feel that I too, had I not been born in 
Portsmouth, could sit down on the curb-stone and cry ! I thank you in 
behalf of our delegation for your kind and cordial welcome and for your 
words of personal compliment to myself and my companion in arms. Col. 
Goodrich. We have in New York a large working population, which is 
directed very largely by Xew England men, and prominent among these 
are the Sons of Portsmouth. Many holding positions of great trust and 
responsibility are with us here, others were detained from coming by im- 
perative engagements elsewhere. I could read you letters received from 
over thirty gentlemen of our associatiou, regretting their inability to go 
with us, bidding us God speed, and wishing us to say to you God bless 
you ! 



84 

We are glad if by our lives we do honor to our native city and to the 
old High School. It was here that our minds and characters were formed, 
our traits and tendencies developed, and that we were prepared to move 
into the wider arena, and to fill the positions which have fallen to us. I 
am glad so many of the High School boys have achieved such marked 
success, and that the graduates of the young ladies' school stand so liigh on 
the roll of honor. 

We come to you not only as Sons and Daughters, but as fellow-towns- 
men and countrymen and as High School children. The triple significance 
of the day impresses us with especial distinctness. We shall travel back 
to it through many years of our lives, with the deepest delight, and we al- 
ready look forward with delightful anticipations to the day when you 
shall again call on us to place another three-faced mile stone in the jour- 
ney of life. Many of us who are here now, may not come then, but they 
will have passed to the best land above from the best land below. 

It is said unto us, "Return to the land of thy fathers and their kindred, 
and I will be with thee." As we are clasped in the arms of those who 
love us ; as we look into faces shut out from ours through the interval of 
many years ; as we meet the dear and early friends, the companions of 
our boyhood and girlhood, the glow in our hearts partakes of this Divine 
presence. May it 

Bless all your fields with rich increase 
And crown eaoli true hea»t's pure desire, 
"For here we loved and where we love is home. 
Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts; 
The chain may lengthen, but it never parts." 

I thank you again for your choice of myself as one of your vice presi- 
dents, and for the placing of my name so closely to that of our dear triend 
from Boston, Mr. Fields, whom we all delight to honor and esteem. I feel 
that some other one than myself from the large number of your graduates 
in New York could have filled the position more fittingly and more 
thoroughly ; but as I said to you in my acceptance I thank you for your 
choice, because it unites me once more to the dear old teacher with whom 
five of the pleasantest years of my life were spent with his associates, all 
of whom I esteem, and with you who are now occupying the familiar 
places and because the golden net-work you are weaving as an Association 
links me more closely to the delightful past. 

Now, I want you to give a few moments to my dear old friend, Col. 
Goodrich, who has done so much through all the work, and from whom I 
know you will be glad to hear. 

Col. Goodrich, on rising, was greeted with prolonged and hearty cheer- 
ing. He said, speaking with evident difiiculty, 

Mr. President, I am sure, Sir, that you will excuse me. My voice, like 
my heart, has gone out in particles, all over this dear old town. I have 
been talking and cheering two long days, and have talked and cheered 
perhaps too much. There is much to say. Sir, and the provocation is 
great to say it ; and could I make myself hoard to this nice people, I 
should occupy the whole allotted five minutes, in "thanks, and thanks, 
and ever thanks." I know you will excuse me. Sir. 

FouKTEENTH Regulae SENTIMENT : The Press — The mirror of the 
times. Its mission, to express the right, to repress the wrong, and to leave 
a good impression. 

The President. This will be responded to by Mr. Geo. G. Kimball, 
who of course will leave a "good impression." 

(We failed to procure a copy of Mr. Kimball's speech, although we 
wrote to him for it.) 

Fifteenth Regular Sentiment : Our absent Associates. — Though 
absent in fact, present in mind. 



85 

The President. — Hoir. Ezra A Ste^cens is expected to respond to this 
sentiment. (Three cheers for the Marshal of the Boston Sons and Daugh- 
ters of Portsmouth.) ' 

RESPONSE OF HON. E. A. STEVENS. 

I am greatly obliged to you, ladies and gentlemen, but it is a good deal 
of cheering over a small subject. Among the most painful recollections of 
my life is an attempt I made, about thirtj'--five years ago, to declaim a 
piece in the Portsmouth High School. I see but one witness of that dis- 
tressing effort, who sits quite near me. The piece was, as near as I re- 
member, — for I did not remember anything at that moment — that was the 
trouble, — "On Linden, when the sun was low" (and it was very low), "All 
bloodless lay the untrodden snow" (and there was no blood on it), "And 
dark as winter was the flow of Iser, rolling rapidly." (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) My feelings at this time ar« very nearly akin to those that dis- 
tressed my heart and mind and body then, for certainly nothing would in- 
duce me to come unprepared before an assembly like this. I am taken at 
a disadvantage. My friend here, Mr. Marston, who has done me a good 
many favors in the course of my lifetime, came to me at the dead hour of 
night and wanted to know if I would say a word at the reunion of the 
High School to be held in the High School rooms ; well, of course, as an 
old High School boy, and a member of your Association, I could not re- 
fuse to do that, you know. But when I found that the affair was to come 
off in the tent, and came inside that door, I assure you my feelings were a 
great deal below par. Many of the gentlemen who have preceded me have 
made apologies ; I am not going to make any, neither am I going to do 
what Isaac Hill once did, when he was called upon to speak : he said, 
"Gentlemen, I am totally unprepared to say anything to you on this sub- 
ject," — and then he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a manu- 
script that it took him about an hour and a half to read. (Laughter.) I 
have not got any manuscript, and shall detain you but a short time. 

I am very glad, ladies aud gentlemen, — boys and girls, I will say, for I 
remember j'ou as boys and girls, — to meet you on this occasion, very glad 
indeed, and you will pardon me if, as one of the old High school boys, I 
refer a little to the old time. What is the toast, Mr. President ? (Laugh- 
ter.) "Our Absent Associates — Though absent in fact, present in mind," 
I am glad it does not say "present in body, "for if it did, it would put me in 
mind of Chandler P. Potter, — I can't say "of pleasant memory," but of 
painful memory, — who used to impress upon our sensitive bodies his "ed- 
ucation," as it was termed. I am very glad he is not here in the body, 
because I am afraid he v/ould want to cowhide some of us. Let me say 
here, to show the contrast between the teachers of the present time and 
the past, that when I went to be examined for admission to the High 
School, under Mr. Tasker, he appeared at the door barefooted, in his shirt- 
sleeves, with tobacco in his mouth, and with a voice that would .send terror 
to the heart of any little fellow. But he said one thing to cheer me up. 
Said he, "If I don't whip you for six months, I probably shall not for a year ; 
and if I don't whip you for a year, I probably never shall." You may 
depend upon it that I behaved very well the first six months, and you may 
depend upon it that I tried hard to hold out until the end of that year. 

The ladies and gentlemen who have preceded me this afternoon have all 
had very carefully prepared addresses, and I have enjoyed them very much 
indeed, as I know you have. It was a very great pleasure to me to see a 
young lady get up here and speak before this audience. I remember that 
I had the pleasure, a few years ago, of handing her a diploma at our 
High School. I am sure I am proud of her, as you are. I am proud of 
every graduate of our school. You, Mr. President, I doubt not, feel very 
proud of the boys who have gone away, and I am sure that we feel just 
as proud as you do. We feel as proud of the silver-tongued gentleman 



86 

who spoke to you this afternooji as others can. I think that of all the 
pleasant features of this celebration, the most pleasant was kept for the 
last. I do not mean my speech, Mr. President, but this delightful re- 
union. 

But this is the toast I am to speak to — "Our absent Associates — Though 
absent in fact, present in mind." I suppose it means "Though lost to 
sight, to memory dear." I cannot speak of all my associates, but I want 
to speak of one who stood with me a great many times at Mr. Potter's 
school. He was a teacher of the most immaculate impartiality, for he 
thrashed every boy in the school, save one, every Saturday. (Laughter.) 
I remember the boy to whom I refer distinctly, and I assure you it is with 
feehngs of very great pain that I speak of him. He was a pale-faced lad, 
with glasses, sitting in the seat of honor. In those times, the classes were 
graduated according to their merit (as they graduate them now, Mr. Kim- 
ball), but the boj's of the higher classes sat nearer heaven than the lower 
ones. The boys m the first class got considerably nearer than the others ; 
the little fellows, like myself, sat down at the bottom. I say, I remember 
this pale-faced lad. who sat in the upper row. He was a very good scholar ; 
he never was whipped, aud none of us ever injured him, because he was a 
lad of very gentle and winning manners. He left the school under pain- 
ful circumstances, but graduated with honor. Many of jovl know his his- 
tory ; I have not time to tell it now. I refer to the "Blind Poet of Saga- 
more," and only for this reason : that I know, although he is absent m 
body, he is with us in spirit, for his heart beats in unison with every one 
of us. And I want to say just this word to you all : if any of you have 
failed to buy a memento of this celebration, I hope and trust that each 
one of you will show your attachment to the High School by purchasing 
a copy of Mr. Drowns poems. I say this without his knowledge. I know 
it would pain him were he to know that anything like begging was done ; 
but I hope that every one of you will possess yourselves of tliat delight- 
ful keepsake of our celebration. (Applause, the band playing "Auld 
Lang Syne)." 

Sixteenth Regular Sentiment : — Future Reunions. — In anticipation 
pleasant, may their realization surpass all expectation. 

REMARKS OF REV. MASSENA GOODRICH. 

Mr President : 

' It may be asked by some why we should take special interest in a meet- 
ing like this. What is there in such an organization that should kindle 
enthusiarn? I reply that to the start given us, in our common schools, 
most of us are largely indebted for any success we have attained in life. 
I often think of a story that President Felton of Harvard College related 
with much glee. While living in Cambridge over twenty years ago, I 
was associated with him one year as a member of the school committee. 
The story was this. Two boys were overheard talking together. It seems 
that they had been attending a private school, but had been removed 
thence to the public school. " I say. Bill," said one of them to the other, 
" these common schools are a grand institution ; they take the starch out 
of a fellow so." It was a favorite principle with President Felton that 
the common schools ought to be made so good, that a private school can- 
not live. 

Mr. President, I know that all of us will endorse the sentiment of that 
boy. Well, for the youth that have gone forth from our city, if the starch 
was early taken out of them! Experience has shown that in the rough 
and tumble of life, whatever genuine success they have acquired has re- 
sulted from downright energy and straightforward integrity. 

I know. Sir, that you agree with President Felton, in the wish that our 
common schools shall be made so good that they will defy all rivalry ; for 
I recollect that in my school-boy days you were often an 'active member 



87 

of the school committee. And now with respect to the sentiment to which 
I am desired to respond. I rejoice that such a union has been formed as 
has been described here. As years roll on, it will be pleasant for these 
youths to recall the history of their associates, and to trace one another's 
career. One consideration which brought me to this celebration was the 
hope of meeting some of my old school-fellows. There was a little band 
of twenty in whom I felt special interest. You recollect, Sir, that Mr. 
Israel W. Bourne once taught our High School. At the time he left, 
many of his pupils sympathized with him and we presented to him a little 
testimonial of our regard. As I said, there were twenty who contributed 
for the object, and I have often tried to recall their names. Half a dozen 
I recollect. There was Samuel Treat, now U. S. Judge for the southern 
district of Dlinois ; there was E. G. Brooks, D. D., now of Philadelphia ; 
there was that gifted young divine, whose form moulders on the shores of 
the Pacific, T. Starr King; there was A. Tappan Akerman for a time 
Attorney General under President Grant ; there was M. Percy Kennard, 
a successful merchant in Boston. I would that I could recollect the rest. 
It is the object of this High School Association to preserve a record of its 
members, and to keep the chain of friendship unbroken. It is a worthy 
object. May future meetings recount achievements that shall shed lustre 
on those who graduate from our High School ! May success crown it ! 
And may our dear old city have reason to exclaim of her children, 
whether they roam abroad, or remain at home ; as did the Roman matron, 
These are my jewels. 

The President. I now propose to avail myself of an old schoolmaster's 
privilege, and call up " the bad boy, " Thomas Bailey Aldrich, if he is 
in the tent. (Applause.) 

Mr. Aldrich not making his appearance the President continued — 
I am afraid " the bad boy " has run away. If he has, I must now re- 
sign my position, and commit the younger portion of the audience to the 
care of Dr. Spaulding, who, I believe, makes the arrangements for the 
dancing. 



THE PRAISE MEETIXa. 

We are indebted to Rev. Carlos Martyn, and the Boston Transcript, for 
the following account of tl*^ great gathering : 

Sunday morning dawned superbly. The air was tonic. The foliage, 
freshened by the shower of Saturday afternoon, looked crisp and bright 
enough for early June. And, although the citizens and their guests were 
weary from the dm and excitement of the preceding days of festival, 
sturdy mother nature, garmented in beauty and fragrance, showed no signs 
of wear and tear. 

In the forenoon the usual services were held in the various churches of 
the city ; and, tired though they were, the people tilled the houses of 
prayer, coaxed forth in part by the cool glory of the day, and in part by 
their desire to worship the " Giver of every good and perfect gift." Rev. 
Dr. Lamson, of Brookline, preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion, 
in the Baptist church on Middle street, as did also Rev. Mr. Hardy, in 
the Methodist church. Rev. Carlos Martyn, in the old North church, 
gave a second discourse on the Home-coming, from Ps. cm. 2: — "Bless 
the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Each of these 
gentlemen addressed very large and profoundly attentive and appreciative 
congregations. 

But the crown alike of the Sabbath and the week was the great Praise 
Meeting, held in the mammoth tent on Wibird hill, at 3 o'clock in the 
ai'ternoon. Not only the homes of Portsmouth, but those of the neighbor- 
ing towns emptied themselves of their sons and daughters ; and the result 
was an assemblage such as is seen but once or twice in a life-time. 

Our deepest feelings are always of a religious nature. The enjoyment 
of the week had been so keen, that it was instinctively felt that the gath- 
ered emotions of the multitude could be no otherwise so fittingly voiced 
as through the lips of prayer and song in a grand union service. Hence, 
the customary afternoon services were omitted, and the city churches of all 
denominations, headed by their respected pastors, walked decorously up to 
this new Mount Zion. There was a happy truce between embattled 
ecclesiastical camps. Party Shibboleths were unlearned for a day. The- 
ologic9.1 lions and lambs lay down together, — and the lambs were not 
inside of the lions. It was a glimpse of "Paradise Regained." As they 
sat side by si<le with men and women of all creeds and of none, — the Jew 
beside the Gentile, with "Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the 
dwellers in Mesopotamia," grouped in friendship under the Catholic can- 
vas, while, in the midst, upon the platform, were massed the for-once- 
agreeing clergy, those who were present had an appetizing foretaste of 
the Millennium. As on the day of Pentecost, "they were all amazed, and 
were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this ?" But it was 
a pleasant amazement, a delightful doubt. Upon all faces was rnirrorea 
the wonder why this scene had been so long delayed. Vocal in all hearts 
were the words of the Psalmist — "Behold how good and pleasant it is for 
brethren to dwell together in unity !" 

Well, a meeting thus spontaneous in its origin and brotherly in its 
grouping could not be otherwise than good ; and good it was, with a good- 
ness akin to that of the hill of transfiguration, when Peter said — "Lord, 
it is good for us to be here." 

As to the singing — and average good singers the Portsmouth people ap- 
pear to be — think of nearly ten thousand voice-s, mostly in unison, uniting 
in praise in Old Hundred, Brattle Street, Federal Street, Bethany, Martyn, 
Boylston, Zion, Siloam, America, Pleyel's Hymn and Greenville, which 



89 

was the programme of vocal music. Everybody knows these, and they 
are the best of the old tunes, and the listening to them could not but be 
inspiring except to the very dullest clayed soul in the world. The vol- 
ume of sound, swayed now this way and now that, or up and down, aa 
the huge canvas, without sides to keep out the wind, inflated or collapsed 
by the force of the breeze, producing an effect as of billows of music. 

To write critically, the time was excellent. Mr. E. A. Tilton, who 
conducted the music, kept all well in hand, and produced excellent effects. 

Here again occasion should be taken to compliment Harlow's Band, 
which gave three fine instrumental selections, besides furnishing accom- 
paniments for the singing. 

There were by the clergymen taking part, an invocation by Rev. Carlos 
Martyn.Congregationalist; reading of the Scriptures by Rev. L. L. Harmon, 
Christian Baptist ; brief addresses by Rev. A. C. Hardy, Methodist ; Rev. 
James DeNormandie, Unitarian; Elder Moses How, Freewill Baptist; 
Rev. Father Waldron, Catholic ; Rev. J. A. Bingham, Episcopalian ; Rev. 
Dr. Lamson, Baptist ; Rev. Wm. H. Alden, Baptist, who also pronounced 
the benediction. 

Most of the speakers confined themselves to the home-coming idea, with 
variation enough in the application of the lesson in it and the thankful- 
ness for it to give good variety to their words. Mr. DeNormandie spoke 
from the text, "I nave come that ye might have life, and tliat ye might 
have it more abundantly." He occupied but a very few minutes, grace- 
fully giving way at his own option, so that the audience might hear from 
the venerable Elder Moses How, now eighty-five years of age, whose name 
was not upon the programme, and who was formerly pastor of a church, 
though not a native of this place. Elder How's voice was distinctly 
heard over a much wider range than some of the younger clergy, and his 
manner was quite as vivacious as theirs. 

Rev. Dr. Lamson of Brookline, who was also at one time a pastor in 
this city, took for his text, "Have faith in God," and presented the idea of 
the necessity of a God of providence, and, as such, a personal God. 

Father Waldron, the Catholic priest who spoke, is a native of Ports- 
mouth, and came to supply the place on the programme of the Rev. Canon 
Walsh, who is in charge of the Catholic diocese here, but who could not be 
present on the occasion. • 

The City Government, with some invited guests, were present. They 
came in carriages and were escorted to the tent by the Inaependent Bat- 
talion and Harlow's Band. 

At the close of the praise meeting a motion was put to the audience, and 
carried, overwhelmingly, that the jubilee be repeated in ten years. 

Thus ended the Praise meeting, — by a unanimous verdict the appro- 
priate climax of the Jubilee. As the multitude turned lingeringly, re- 
luctantly from the scene, it was with a song of praise still on their lips, a 
psalm of thanksgiving still in their hearts ; while 

"Eyes looked love to eyes that spake again.' 



90 



A MONUMENT AT ODIORNE'S POINT. 

" Over your boneg a great and glorious mound, 
Here on the lieadland, at the opening sound, _ 
We heaped, Achilles ! Shall it always be 
Seen from the offiug in this far-off sea, — 
Shall men, that see this Trojan headland loom. 
See, and for evermore, the mighty Helen's tomb." 

Odyssey. 

By a felicitous coincidence the year 1873 has marked not only the 
twentieth year's absence of " The Sons," but a still more important an- 
niversary, being no less than the two hundred and fiftieth year nince the 
settlement of the town of Portsmouth, or indeed of the State of New Hamp- 
shire. In 1623 (probably in the month of May,) a company of English- 
men, under the direction of David Thompson, set foot upon Odiorne's Point. 
It is not hard to call up the picture, as one stands to-day upon this beau- 
tiful promontory ; to imagine these bold, hardy adventurers stepping upon 
the shore, pleased to find it so fair a land. They came to earn a livelihood 
by fishmg, tilling the ground and trading with the natives. They were 
good, honest, reputable yeomen. The existence of the settlement which 
they founded is to this day attested by many a relic. The site of the Manor 
House, of the Port, of Plake Hill (a knoll so called from the flakes on which 
they dried their fish;) the little grave yard, with "moss-covered cob- 
ble stones at the head and foot of the graves," and many a broken fragment 
of brick turned up by the plough-share, all speak of busy occupancy two 
centuries and a half ago. 

It was professedly the intention of our citizens to celebrate this most in- 
teresting historical event, no less than the return of the Sons. A hope had 
found expression that Odiorne's Point and its memories would be brought 
prominently forward, and pei'haps something said, or done, to honor the 
men who came there, some of them ancestors of Portsmouth families, now 
either resident at the old homestead, or scattered abroad in different parts 
of the country. But in the fervor and enthusiasm with which the pres- 
ence of the living was greeted (though we thought tenderly of those who 
had passed away since the last re-union,) the memory was but dim and 
obscure of men who were sleeping in their graves, by the sea, over two 
centuries ago. True, Thompson and his band were not altogether forgot- 
ten. Honorable mention was made of them, notably in the eloquent and 
chaste response of the President of the Boston delegation. But somehow 
the significance of the greater anniversary was not impressed upon us as it 
should have been. The social completely overshadowed the more purely 
historical celebration. 

Perhaps it was as well so. There is a strong impression, however, that 
the historical anniversary ought not to go entirely by default. It deserves, 
and is likely to have, a recognition in a manner more quiet, but no less 
hearty and spontaneous. It is an anniversary too valuable to be neglected. 

A few days after the Fourth, a well known Son,* a clergyman widely 
respected as an earnest worker, invited a friend f to take a stroll down Sag- 
amore road. The two Higli School boys had in hand, of course, a copy ot 
Brewster's Rambles. Their inspiration, it is likely, was drawn from liara- 
ble II, of the FirstSeries, which opens as follows : " An hour's walk from 
Market Square, over Sagamore bridge, will find us on the sea-coast at 
Odiorne's Point — a peninsula on which there is a slight eminence, a few 
rods from the sea, which afibrds a good view of the ocean and of the neigh- 

* Rev. Edward A. Rand, 
t Frank W. Hackett, Esq. 



91 

boring country. * * Odiorne's Point was the spot selected by the 
Laconia Company for the site of the first building erected on the grant." 
The strangers' visit was fully as interesting as they were led by the " Ram- 
bler " to expect. Mr. Charles Odiorne, who lives upon the premises, kindly 
pointed out the prominent localities; and they enjoyed themselves with 
almost as much zest as if indeed they had been professed antiquarians. 

This incident has proved the germ of a design to mark this well- authen- 
ticated spot by some permanent memorial. Here was the beginning of anew 
people. These Englishmen, quite unlike the Puritans, landed only three 
years after the settlement at Plymouth. The early settlers of New Hamp- 
shire, it is true, did not come to found " a church without a bishop, a state 
without a king." They came for fishing, for business and for trade ; but 
they meant to stay and build up a town. They did stay, and their char- 
acter, as well as the character of those who followed them, left its impress 
upon succeeding generations in the Province and in the State of New 
Hampshire. It is not meet that tlieir coming should be forgotten. 

A few gentlemen appearing to favor the project, a meeting was called 
for the 23d of July, at the City rooms, to " commemorate the settlcjinent of 
this state in 1623, by a monument at Odiorne's Point, to be dedicated un- 
der the auspicies of the New Hampshire Historical Society." The call was 
signed by j\lessrs. James P. Bartlett and Prank W. Hackett, as a com- 
mittee. 

The meeting was gratifying both in point of numbers, and in the charac- 
ter of the citizens who were present. James P. Bartlett, Esq , presided, and 
Mr. Albert H. Sides was chosen Secretary. Remarks were made by His Hon- 
or the Mayor, Hon. John Elwyn (whose historical knowledge m all that 
appertains to the early history of Portsmouth and vicinity, is unequalled,) 
Hon. W. H. Y. Hackett, Hon. Lory Odell, ^Frank W. Miller, Esq., and 
others. Letters were read from Rev. Dr. Bouton, of Concord, Correspond- 
ing]Secretary of the New Hampshire Historical Society, who expressed an 
assurance that that organization would cordially help forward the move- 
ment ; from Rev. Edward A. Rand, of South Boston ; and from Col. Al- 
bert H. Hoyt, of Boston, the faithful and able editor of the New England 
Historical and Genealogical Register. 

The opinion was itnanimous that a monument ought to be built ; that if 
not built at once, it would surely be in time. There was no doubt that 
the most suitable site was the eminence at the Point, where the shaft 
could be seen by all who sail along the coast. 

A coiiunittee was appointed to take the subject into consideration, to 
confer with the Historical Society, and to make a report to a general meet- 
ing of citizens, which they were empowered to call whenever they see tit. 
The members of the committee are Hon. John Elwyn, His Honor, May- 
or Marvm, Hon. Lory Udell, Frank .W. Hackett, James P. Bartlett and 
Frank W. Miller. 

It is understood that the movement is making excellent headway. 
Advices from all quarters indicate that interest enough is already excited 
to make it a gratitying success. Writers in the press, and by private letters, 
cordially commend it. Not merely Portsmouth or Dover is alone inter- 
ested. It IS designed that subscriptions may come from all parts of the 
State, and from Sons and Daughters of the Uranite State, wherever living. 
So excellent an undertaking cannot fail to be popular. When it succeeds 
(as succeed it surely will,) the monument will represent the expression of 
grateful remembrance of New Hampshire's children, from Maine to the 
Pacific. 

As the Committee have not yet reported their action, it is too early to 
state precisely what plan will be commended, or adopted. It is not too 
much to say, however, that a plain, substantial column will require a 
considerable outlay : that it should be of height and breadth sutficient to 
be seen from the ocean, that is, it should be of a respectable size, if not 



92 

imposing. Its dedication will be accompanied by an address, the prepar- 
ation of which will undoubtedly be consigned to an able and painstak- 
ing hand. Research cannot but bring to light many interesting details 
which must soon be rescued from oblivion, if at all. 

The fitness of the place, the time and the occasion is so obvious, that it 
need not be enlarged upon. Every Son of Portsmouth will take an especial 
pride in the successful termination of a project so auspiciously begun. It 
is well to spread the intelligence as widely as possible. The details of the 
plan, by which money will be raised, are not yet perfected, but will be made 
public ere long. ^Meanwhile, althougti an executive committee has not yet 
been chosen, it may be well to add for the benefit of those who are disposed at 
once to contribute to this object, that James P. Bartlett, Esa., of the New 
Hampshire National Bank of Portsmouth, has kindly consented to ac- 
knowledge the receipt of sums, from one dollar and upward, and to hold 
them to the order of the future Treasurer. 



93 



STRAY MEMORANDA. 

In gathering the material for the foregoing account of Portsmouth's 
three days carnival, we have inadvertently omitted many important 
items of interest which should properly have been inserted under the ap- 
propriate headings. We have collected some of the more important of 
them however and shall bundle them together under the above caption. 
The first that meets our eye and claims our attention is from a private 
letter received from a friend of oursSvho was one of the most active and 
enthusiastic workers in aiding the Return, and, besides, is as loyal to his 
mother town as it is possible for one .to be, and therefore his practical 
suggestions are entitled to much consideration. 

************ 

"And when we come in 1883, please permit us to do so without inflicting 
the penalty of so much entertainment for us. Do not have us feel that 
our visit has induced an appropriation of so much money as $ 10,000. 
Private welcome of itself, has about overwhelmed us twice, and in future 
that can be depended upon ; witness the decorated dwellings and quanti- 
ties of food prepared at the last Return. Let us come home and feel easy 
and comfortable, free and " chipper." Receive us simply, give our chief 
a gold ring to mark the period to his posterity and our successors, disband 
the escort before noon and give us an opportunity to go to a few of the 
scores or hundreds of receptions and meetings and lunches arranged for us, 
and be shaken by both hands — the real feature of the festival — the hearty 
one. Then at four or five of the day, let us go, cool and rested, to hear the 
speeches and songs and poetry and then at once to the Promenade con- 
cert where we shall meet all together, and sociably chat or dance or laugh 
and be cheery. Let us have our collation in instalments — we all have 
somewhere to go, where they 'want us, and last Fourth many of us had 
more tables spread for us than we could possibly visit, so that both tables 
and ourselves were much dissappointed, for the most of us didn't get to 
one. 

Also have the next Return in June — the grass and the elms and the 
water and the girls are all prettiest then — everybody is hungering for 
trees and green things when they're just budding. City people are never 
more struck with the beauty of vegetation, &c , than early in the season. 
Do not mix the Return Days with Independence Day or any other day, 
but let it be a historic, red-letter day by itself; — it has sufficient signifi- 
cance to be worthy of it. The " 250th Anniversary " got pretty well lost 
in the " Return." — Even the badges of your City were marked " Return 
of the Sons and Daughters of Portsmouth " — not a word about 1623. The 
".Return" is now Portsmouth's own particular day — its special and exclu- 
sive characteristic — no other town possesses the institution of a ten-yearly 
Return of its "Sons" which from time to time will fruit just as nutty 
bearings as the Odiorne's Point Monument and the High School Associa- 
tion and Festival. 

What do you think of some arrangement by which some act that would 
perpetuate the day might be done, that everybody in the visiting proces- 
sion might have a hand in? For instance — Let along rope be taken 
hold of by everybody in the line, as firemen drag an engine to a fire. To 
this rope attach a piece of ordnance (ordnance-canon) or something of the 
kind. Drag it to some hill or square, unship it and drop it on the ground 
or on a base prepared for it or stick it up in the earth." 

Visitors to our city, July Fourth, were indebted to the Temperance or- 
ganizations of Portsmouth for the eificient and liberal way in which they 



94 

provided ice-water during the day. Drinking fountains, well shaded and 
appropriately mottoed. were set up at prominent points, men were en- 
gaged to keep them filled, and by these commendable efforts much com- 
fort was pronaoted. 

Among the marching Sons, in the procession of the 4th, were four gen- 
tlemen, (including Dr. Rice of Newport, R. I.) who formed one section, 
and whose united avoirdupois reached within seven pounds of nine hun- 
dred — about two hundred and twenty-three pounds apiece. And they 
marched over the whole route, too. 

Of the 314 sons and daughters resident in New York, 225 were, by 
actual count, present at this reunion. 

Four Massachusetts officers were the guests of the Independent Battal- 
ion on the Fourth and marched with them in the procession. They were 
Capt. Geo. Keeler, Lieuts. Silvia and Robinson of the Cambridge City 
Guard, and Lieut. Fred Kramer of the Somerville Light Infantry, who is 
a son of Portsmouth. 

Mayor Horton of Dover, was in the city during the Fourth, as the 
guest of Mayor Marvin. Immediately after his return home, he sent a 
letter to the Mayor, highly complimcntar}' of the successful way we cel- 
ebrated. 

The inmates of the Almshouse and Bridewell were given their liberty 
on July 4th, on their promise of good behavior. They all returned to 
their respective quarters the next day. 

Among those who kept open houses during the late reception, none 
were more hospitable than Miss Annie L. Sise, at the old homestead on 
Middle Street. The latch-string was out, nay more, the door was left wide 
open, and her brothers, with the fair host, provided bountifully of choice 
viands. The members of the press were indebted for special attention. 

Rev. Canon Walsh also generously kept his house open to the public, 
with a liberal supply of refreshments for any who chanced to call. Many 
others about the city had well-filled tables waiting for the public palate 
so that no one of the crowd of visitors need to have gone home hungry, 
and 'we doubt if any did. 

The Boston Committee on Re-assembling, though they did not call the 
sons together in ten years after 1853, were not unmindful of their exis- 
tence. When the 2d New Hampshire Reg't left Portsmouth for the seat 
of war in 1861, they were escorted through Boston by the Sons of New 
Hampshire and given a Strawberry Feast at the Music Hall with music, 
speeches, &c., &c. 

After several hard fights, what was left of the Reg't came home for a 
brief visit and -though advertised to go through Boston, no notice was to 
be taken of them. This was too much of a contrast to the departure. The 
Com on Reassembling at once raised among their friends some $500 to 
which the city of Boston added some $200. One of the committee met 
the Reg't at Providence, while the others obtained Gilmore's Band and a 
few " Sons," by whom the soldiers were escorted to a breakfast at Faneuil 
Hall and the officers taken to Parker's and handsomely entertained. 

Returns of Newburyport, Gloucester and Brookfield. The city of New- 
buryport, in 1854, published an invitation for its Sons to return and par- 
take of the hospitality of the Stay-at-Homes. Our correspondent learned 
his business in Newburyport and had been an occasional visitor from 
childhood. From these circumstances and from h^s connection with the 
Portsmouth movement, he attended the gathering. It was universally 
conceded a failure, though by many attributed to the great heat of the day. 

An advertisement calling the Sons of Gloucester together at Meionaon 
Hal] in Boston, in the spring of 1873, with the object of a Return Home, 



95 

was responded to by eight persons, two of whom were reporters, one the 
janitor of the building, one a gentleman from Dover, and Theodore S. 
Harris, Esq. A meeting of Gloucester people was afterward had in Chel- 
sea and there the movement seems to have ceased, for this year at least. 
In the latter part of April or early in May 1853, the natives of Brookfield 
resident in New York projected a general return to their birthplace, a no- 
tice of which is found in the Boston Atlas of May 18th of that year, but 
the design never was consummated. 

The following letter, from the subscriber to a friend in Boston, seems to 
show that the idea of a " return of the Sons " dates several years previous 
to the Spring of 1853. * * * * "At the meeting in 1849, at Fitch- 
burg Hall, of the sons of New Hampshire, residing in Boston, it was then 
suggested to have a general return of the Sons of Portsmouth. On my 
return home, I spoke of it to my father* and brothers, but nothing further 
was done. I always supposed the Return in 1853 was owing to the re- 
marks made at that time. I cannot remember who made the suggestion 
but it was a matter of conversation for a little while. 

Yours, truly, 

EBEN W. BALL." 

It is an interesting fact that in the Boston delegation all the badges of 
the marshals, except that of Chief Marshal Stevens, were from a pattern 
furnished by a daughter of Portsmouth, who has just passed her 76th 
birth-day. Among all the visitors to our city on that memorable day of 
July Fourth, there was none more earnest, nor one who attached more im- 
portance to the occasion than did this lady. 

* Mr. John Ball, the preacher. 



EXPLANATORY. 

It was the desire and intention of the publisher of this History, to get, 
if possible, all, or nearly all the names of the visiting Sons and Daugh- 
ters, and publish them at the close of this book. To facilitate this, sheets 
were prepared with printed headings, and placed in the newspaper offices 
of the Journal and Times, for the purpose of obtaining the signatures of 
the visitors, the proprietors of each paper kindly giving their personal 
attention to the matter. The foregoing places were selected on account 
of their centrality and convenience, and although the proposal and re- 
quest were well advertised, we failed to get anything like a complete list ; 
in fact, it is so incomplete that we have concluded not to publish it, and 
thus relieve ourself of those complaints that would arise from the perusal 
of an unfinished directory of names. 



THE RE-UNION OF 73. 



THE SECOND RECEPTION OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PORTSMOUTH, RESIDENT 

ABROAD, 



CTUXjIT 4, 1873. 



ALSO, AN ACCOl^NT OF 



THE HIGH SCHOOL RE-UNION, 



JULY 5, 




GREAT PRAISE MEETING 



ON SUNDAY, JULY 6. 



PUBLISHED BY CHARLES W. GARDNER, 

PORTSMOUTH, N. H. 



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